ME / CFS
“We are so tired, my heart and I,
Of all things here beneath the sky,
Only one thing would please us best,
Endless, unfathomable rest…”
Mathilde Blind
ME (Myalgic Encephalomyopathy) or CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is an illness that is presently based upon a consensus definition. Although there are some measurable and consistent biological abnormalities which accompany the symptoms, we still have no diagnostic markers to confirm a definitive disease process.
From the start, ME/CFS plays havoc with the confidence of both clinician and patient. The sudden appearance of such a vast array of frightening symptoms immediately brings to mind serious conditions such as systemic infections, auto-immune diseases and cancer. Afterwards, when the whole process has evolved into an overwhelming fatigue with no clear-cut physical or emotional source, the stage is set for medical mayhem and usually a tragic disregard for the patient’s suffering.
The fact is, while researchers argue about the name and status of this modern day illness, hundreds of people succumb to this elusive illness daily. It causes an ongoing disability comparable to major depression, advanced diabetes, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. In the USA, four out of every one thousand people are diagnosed with full blown ME/CFS, and there is the possibility that only 20% of sufferers are actually diagnosed as such. To make things worse, ME/CFS would seem to select the younger, more creative and active members of society.
The illness has an unmistakable relationship with stress and modern lifestyle. It relates to the overstimulation, pollution and disregard for biological rhythms so typical of our present indoor and night time life style. It also tries to protect its sufferer from the foreign identities and excessive adaptation to which the more complying members of modern society so easily surrender. It also does not kill, nor does it respect the chemotherapeutic and surgical accomplishments of modern medicine. Is it a slow evolutional adaptation to the modern world?
Read more and decide if you are a candidate for this ambiguous guardian of future humanity:
What is ME/CFS. What happens when we have ME/CFS. What can be done about ME/CFS. Living with ME/CFS. Recent research on the cause of ME/CFS. The medical criteria for ME/CFS. The treatment of ME/CFS. References used in ME articles.