scholarly journals A Rose By Any Other Name?

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Marlin PhD

In February of this year, an expert committee of the United States Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a lengthy report in which its members reviewed diagnostic criteria and proposed a new label for chronic fatigue syndrome, also historically referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis.1 The committee’s proposed new label for this illness is Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease. The report refers to the fact that a sizeable population is diagnosed with this illness, which causes considerable suffering and functional impairment. Many patients also feel stigmatized because of the label chronic fatigue syndrome.

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Karl Conroy ◽  
Shaun Bhatia ◽  
Mohammed Islam ◽  
Leonard A. Jason

Persons living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) vary widely in terms of the severity of their illness. It is estimated that of those living with ME/CFS in the United States, about 385,000 are homebound. There is a need to know more about different degrees of being homebound within this severely affected group. The current study examined an international sample of 2138 study participants with ME/CFS, of whom 549 were severely affected (operationalized as ‘Homebound’). A subsample of 89 very severely affected participants (operationalized as ‘Homebound-bedridden’) was also examined. The findings showed a significant association between severely and very severely affected participants within the post-exertional malaise (PEM) symptom domain. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Diagnostics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateo Cortes Rivera ◽  
Claudio Mastronardi ◽  
Claudia Silva-Aldana ◽  
Mauricio Arcos-Burgos ◽  
Brett Lidbury

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating chronic disease of unknown aetiology that is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) as a disorder of the brain. The disease predominantly affects adults, with a peak age of onset of between 20 and 45 years with a female to male ratio of 3:1. Although the clinical features of the disease have been well established within diagnostic criteria, the diagnosis of ME/CFS is still of exclusion, meaning that other medical conditions must be ruled out. The pathophysiological mechanisms are unclear but the neuro-immuno-endocrinological pattern of CFS patients gleaned from various studies indicates that these three pillars may be the key point to understand the complexity of the disease. At the moment, there are no specific pharmacological therapies to treat the disease, but several studies’ aims and therapeutic approaches have been described in order to benefit patients’ prognosis, symptomatology relief, and the recovery of pre-existing function. This review presents a pathophysiological approach to understanding the essential concepts of ME/CFS, with an emphasis on the population, clinical, and genetic concepts associated with ME/CFS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Jason ◽  
Kristen Barker ◽  
Abigail Brown

Research on pediatric Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is reviewed in this article. Many recent articles in this area highlight the existence of key differences between the adult and pediatric forms of the illness. This review article provides an overview of pediatric ME/ CFS, including epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, treatment, and prognosis. Challenges to the field are identified with the hope that in the future pediatric cases of ME/CFS can be more accurately diagnosed and successfully managed.


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