Benjamin Natelson

Source: Pain and Fatigue Study Center

Dr. Benjamin Natelson, is a neurologist with post-doctoral training in Behavioral Medicine. He is head of the Pain and Fatigue Study Center in New York City which specializes in treating and researching ME/CFS|myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and severe pain and fatigue illnesses. He is, also, an Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Neurosciences at Rutgers and Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai.

Awards

• 2009, Rudy Perpich Senior Lectureship Award, presented to a distinguished CFS/FM scientist, physician or healthcare worker awarded by IACFS/ME

Education

• Medical degree: University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
• Neurology Residence: The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx
• Post-doctoral training in Behavioral Medicine: Cornell University's New York Hospital and the Walter Reed Institute of Research (formerly) in Washington, DC

Committees

Board of Directors IACFSME

• 2001-2003, He served as past President of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from 2001-2003.

Medscape Continuing Medicine Education

• 2013, A Case-Based Approach to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was a Medscape Continuing Medicine Education program co-authored by Dr Lisa Corbin, Dr Anthony Komaroff, Dr Benjamin Natelson, and Dr Peter Rowe.

IOM Committee on Diagnostic Criteria for ME/CFS

• 2015, Dr. Natelson was one of the experts on the "Committee on the Diagnostic Criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" that was convened for the 2015 Institute of Medicine report.

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

• 2018, Member of the Neurologic/Cognitive/CNS Imaging Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Notable studies

A more complete list of Dr. Natelson's ME/CFS and FM research studies can be found at The Pain and Fatigue Study Center's Scientific Publications Link.

• 1998, Measurement of CO2 in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients - (Abstract)
• 1998, Relation between neuropsychological impairment and functional disability in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Article)
• 1999, Impaired oxygen delivery to muscle in chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Article)
• 2000, Psychiatric Comorbidity and Somatic Distress in Sudden and Gradual Onset Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Full Article)
• 2001, Health-Related Personality Variables in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis - (Abstract)
• 2001, Detection of Immunologically Significant Factors for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Using Neural-Network Classifiers - (Full Text)
• 2001, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2003, Perceived exertion in fatiguing illness: civilians with chronic fatigue syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2004, Cognitive Function Index for Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2004, Muscle metabolism with blood flow restriction in chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
• 2005, Objective evidence of cognitive complaints in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a BOLD fMRI study of verbal working memory - (Abstract)
• 2006, The influence of aerobic fitness and fibromyalgia on cardiorespiratory and perceptual responses to exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
• 2007, Hypocapnia is a biological marker for orthostatic intolerance in some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
• 2010, Sleep is not disrupted by exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndromes - (Full Article)
• 2010, Cytokines across the night in chronic fatigue syndrome with and without fibromyalgia - (Full Article)
• 2011, Distinct Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes Differentiate Post-Treatment Lyme Disease from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Full Article)
• 2011, Safety and efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation in fibromyalgia: a phase I/II proof of concept trial
• 2012, Increased ventricular lactate in chronic fatigue syndrome. III. Relationships to cortical glutathione and clinical symptoms implicate oxidative stress in disorder pathophysiology - (Full Text)
• 2013, Is chronic fatigue syndrome the same illness as fibromyalgia: evaluating the ‘single syndrome’ hypothesis - (Full Text)
• 2013, Attention network test: assessment of cognitive function in chronic fatigue syndrome
• 2013, Exercise and sleep deprivation do not change cytokine expression levels in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Article)
• 2015, Effect of Milnacipran Treatment on Ventricular Lactate in Fibromyalgia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial(Full Text)
• 2015, Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in diagnosed sleep disorders: a further test of the 'unitary' hypothesis. - (Full Text)
• 2017, Multi-Site Clinical Assessment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (MCAM): Design and Implementation of a Prospective/Retrospective Rolling Cohort Study - (Full Text)
• 2017, Elevations of ventricular lactate levels occur in both chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia - (Full text)
• 2017, Multimodal and simultaneous assessments of brain and spinal fluid abnormalities in chronic fatigue syndrome and the effects of psychiatric comorbidity - (Full Text)
• 2018, Balance deficits in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with and without fibromyalgia - (Abstract)
• 2019, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: Definitions, Similarities, and Differences
• 2019, The effect of comorbid medical and psychiatric diagnoses on chronic fatigue syndrome - (Abstract)

Interviews & talks

• TV and radio interviews

Clinical location

Pain and Fatigue Study Center

Phillips Ambulatory Care Center, Suite 4K

Beth Israel Medical Center

10 Union Square East

New York, NY 10003-3314

212-844-6665

Online presence

• The Pain & Fatigue Study Center

Books

• 1998, Facing and Fighting Fatigue: A Practical Approach
• 2007, Your Symptoms Are Real: What to Do When Your Doctor Says Nothing Is Wrong
• 2008, Fatigue Science for Human Health, edited by Yatanabe, Y., Evengard, B., Natelson, B.H., Jason, L.A., & Kuratsune, H.

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

National Academy of Medicine (NAM) - An American non-profit, non-governmental organization which provides expert advice to governmental agencies on issues relating to biomedical science, medicine and health. Formerly known as the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

See National Academy of Medicine.

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.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.

somatic An adjective relating to the physical body or physical symptoms. It is often contrasted with the adjective "psychological", which refers to the human mind or mental symptoms. In biology, "somatic cells" refer to all the cells of the body, except those which form an egg or sperm.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

phase one A drug trial involving only a small group of humans, often healthy volunteers, to assess drug safety and side effects. Typically 20-80 participants, often using a comparison group.

See National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.

cytokine any class of immunoregulatory proteins secreted by cells, especially immune cells. Cytokines are small proteins important in cell signaling that modulate the immune system. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)

cytokine any class of immunoregulatory proteins secreted by cells, especially immune cells. Cytokines are small proteins important in cell signaling that modulate the immune system. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)