Disease of the month: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)

Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME, CFS or post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), is a condition that causes extreme physical and mental tiredness that seriously interferes with a person’s daily life. This is a contentious illness because for years medical professionals refused to recognise it – often being dismissed as ‘yuppie flu’, despite causing years of complex problems. During the 1990s, the term ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ (CFS) came into vogue. Since there was no specific diagnostic test for ME, and since post-exercise ‘fatigue’ was one of its ...