It isn’t.
It might seem like it, according to the treatment it gets from our highly-regarded Health & Human Services Department (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other sub-departments of the huge HHS.
It seems like there is a vendetta against ME patients in the U.S., and also in other countries, where very ill patients are diagnosed and treated for psychosomatic illness, when they are really suffering from a multi-symptom, extremely painful and debilitating disease.
The whole body is affected. Not just nerves; not just the brain, not just the lymph nodes; not just the immune system; not just the muscles, not just the major organs of the body – BUT ALL.
Another thing: Approximately 80% of patients who are suffering with ME are women. Some scuttlebutt I’ve heard has suggested that, since such a huge percentage of patients are women, some governmental entities may not put as great importance on funding for research for ME as they would if the disease was weighted differently.
The other 20% is comprised of men and children. Yes, children! Also, it is not unusual for members of the same family to fall ill with ME. Outbreaks have also been reported within communities.
Unraveling the “mystery” about ME:
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Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating, often disabling, illness recognized as a neurological disorder by the World Health Organization since 1969.
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After an outbreak in Nevada in the 1980s, the CDC coined the term “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”
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There are no FDA-approved treatments and no diagnostic tools for ME.
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Between 836,000 and 2.5 million U.S. residents are afflicted with ME, with 84 to 91 percent not yet diagnosed. True numbers are highly under reported
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ME-related medical expenses and lost productivity cost the U.S. up to $24 billion annually.
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In research funding, ME receives less money for research than hay fever, and ranks far below similarly disabling illnesses; such as:
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1) ME: About $2 per patient per year in NIH funding ($5 million in FY2015);
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2) Multiple sclerosis: About $250 per patient ($103 million in FY2015); and
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3) HIV/AIDS: About $2500 per patient ($3 billion in FY2015).
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Patients with ME score more poorly on quality of life surveys than patients with multiple sclerosis, stroke, diabetes, renal failure, lung disease, heart failure and various cancers.
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At least one quarter of ME patients become housebound or bed bound, often for years. Many become unemployed.
Loss of job as disease progresses has dire economic consequences for patients, families, and the country as a whole, when considering the loss of productivity.
Ask most any person in the medical community if they heard of “ME” or “Myalgic Encephalomyelitis” and, guaranteed, almost all will answer, “No.” Ask if they’ve heard of “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” or “Chronic Fatigue” and more often than not, they will say, “Yes.” But, they really have no idea at all what it is. I speak from my own personal experience. The many doctors I’ve visited over the last year, when asked, had the identical response. Also, this type of response is reported by patients when questioned about their doctor visits. Too often, they encountered uninformed and uncaring doctors.
Medical schools should begin instituting information about ME in their curricula.
Thank the CDC representatives for that great faux pas 30 years ago in Nevada, while investigating an outbreak, when they imprinted “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” (CFS) on all patients, and which, unfortunately, stuck.
The ignorance shown in the face of a “mysterious” disease 30 years ago is continuing.
[Indented information is from #ME Action]
[Image is from bingdotcom]
Sunshinebright 