Posts from — September 2008

Hi fibro-cfs friends,

I am finding that quite a few doctors, even entire populations are confusing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.  In Fact, many of the articles I read actually combine the two as one syndrome/disease! For example, I’ve read too many articles that begin with the definition (CFS/ME). I am not a doctor, so this of course is my opinion, but I think updated reasoning is required here. 

I pulled the following paragraph directly from Wikipedia.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), and various other names, is a syndrome(or group of syndromes) of unknown and possibly multiple, affecting the central nervous sytem(CNS), immune, and many other systems and organs. There is no simple diagnostic test; CFS is a diagnosis of exclusion, although recent research indicates biological hallmarks of the syndrome, and a diagnostic test is predicted soon.

I did locate from ahummingsbirdsguide established by Jodi Bassett, the following paragraphs which brought some relief.  Thank you Jodi and *Dr. Hyde. 

It is important to be aware that the disease Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, which has had a World Health Organizational classification since 1969, is not the same illness as the subsequently-named ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’ definitions, although they are sometimes treated as similar.

In contrast to many of the ‘CFS’ definitions, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is not a diagnosis of exclusion. Lack of knowledge of this has led both to people being incorrectly diagnosed with the illness, and also to the stigma that sufferers are complaining of an invisible disease, and must hence have a psychosomatic illness.

Adding to the confusion, some research ostensibly done on CFS population samples has in fact been done on sufferers of M.E., and some research ostensibly done on M.E. has in fact been done using test subjects diagnosed with one of the types of CFS which are quite different from M.E. (for instance the Fukuda criteria), or with those who simply have some sort of fatigue, due to the mistaken belief that M.E. is synonymous with chronic fatigue some definitions of CFS. 

It should not necessarily be concluded that those diagnosed with “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” have, in contrast to those with M.E., a psychosomatic disorder or problems. Part of the problem of the extremely broad criteria of some CFS definitions is that they can incorporate both those whose fatigue is primarily related to depression and emotional stressors in their lives, and those who have fatigue and other physical symptoms which are caused by undiagnosed physical disorders or diseases. Thus the definition CFS is, as Dr Byron Hyde has written, unhelpful to those with M.E., and unhelpful to those who have been diagnosed with CFS. Dr Hyde advocates that the concept of CFS should be abandoned, as in practice it leads to stigmatizing those with physically-caused illnesses as psychosomatic or hypochondriacs, and is often used as an excuse not to conduct proper testing and treatment of the genuinely ill (by doctors who assume the diagnosis of  CFS means that there is no point in conducting more than rudimentary physical tests).

It would be extremely helpful to MANY if a reader of this blog who is or knows someone who is suffering with either Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis would post a comment indicating their understanding regarding these conditions.

*Dr. Hyde founded the Nightingale Research Foundation  in 1988. Nightingale is dedicated to explore, understand and treat the patients disabled with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E. and CFS), fibromyalgia-type illnesses and post-immunization injuries. 

Care Tip:  Disease is challenging to say the least.  But taking action to understand one’s own body and the numerous attacks from disease, syndromes, virus’s etc. will reduce fear and stress, and increase the proper protocol to help relieve pain and suffering.