Association of Young People with ME

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What is ME?

ME is a recognised relapsing and remitting medical condition with many complex fluctuating symptoms. Its existence is confirmed in the January 2002 report by the Chief Medical Officer of England and Wales (downloadable from the Department of Health web site at www.doh.gov.uk/cmo - for Scotland see the Scottish CMO report published February 2002 http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/). The report states that ME is: ""¦ a genuine illness and imposes a substantial burden on the health of the UK population" (Chapter 1 page 1) and ""¦is a quite common, very heterogeneous condition of adults and children that lacks specific disease markers but is clinically recognisable." (Annex 6 page 1).

ME stands for Myalgic Encephalopathy (My-al-jik En-kefa-lop-athy)

The term Myalgic Encephalopathy indicates the pain in the muscles, neurological problems and general suffering that accompany this illness:

Myalgic: Greek origin meaning muscle
Encephalo: Greek origin meaning brain
Pathy: meaning suffering or sickness

There is no known cause of ME as yet, although in young people it most commonly follows persistent viral infection. It is often referred to as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS).

Sometimes ME is still referred to by an older version of the name: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. However, this is technically incorrect because the term 'myelitis' means inflammation of the brain and there is no inflammation found in the brain of ME patients. This was discussed by the doctors involved in the Chief Medical Officer's steering group and they agreed that 'pathy' was a more correct definition.

For further information, click on the links below:

Article last edited on Thursday 13th August 2009 Printable Version

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