Olli Polo

Olli Polo, MD, PhD, is a Finnish pulmonologist, sleep specialist, doctor of physiology and CFS/ME expert working in Tampere, Finland. He was formerly a professor of pulmonology at Tampere university, but lost the professorship in 2014 as a result of official complaints made against him by insurance doctors. He works at his own sleep clinic Unesta, where he mostly treats and studies CFS/ME, RLS and sleep apnea. He has also treated Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and mold illness.

Polo has been treating and studying CFS/ME since 2007. He is yet to publish a single paper, though he has published many papers in prominent journals about sleep disorders, particularly RLS, sleep apnea and the effect of menopause on sleep. He was a speaker at the 2016 Invest in ME International ME Conference in London.

Polo's ideas of the causal mechanisms of CFS/ME are focused on the sympathetic nervous system, circadian rhythm and tissue hypoxia. He believes Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or a similar type of collagen abnormality underlies virtually every cause of CFS/ME and has documented this in hundreds of patients.

Polo has developed several experimental medical therapies, as well as utilizing more common treatments like LDN, supplemental oxygen, saline, vitamin B12, rotigotine and pramipexole. He believes e.g. most psychiatric drugs, sleeping pills and Lyrica are harmful in CFS/ME.

Polo has been a vocal advocate for CFS/ME, MCS and mold illness in the Finnish media and has been interviewed in TV, radio, online documentaries and many newspaper and magazine articles. This has not always been positively received by his colleagues.

Talks & interviews

• 2016, Speaker at the 11th Invest in ME International ME Conference on "Clinical Diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" DVD available

Learn More

• Curriculum Vitae

See Also

Invest in ME International ME Conference

physiological Concerning living organisms, such as cells or the human body.  Physio logical (as in physio) is not to be confused with psych ological (emotional stress).

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.