The New York Times just posted an exciting new article on ME/CFS gaining recognition in the medical community. It seems we may soon be reaching a tipping point in changing perceptions in the community about this disease!

“After years of treating the syndrome as a psychological disorder, leading health organizations now recognize that it is a serious, long-term illness possibly caused by a disruption in how the immune system responds to infection or stress. It shares many characteristics with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis but without apparent signs of tissue damage.

Accordingly, doctors now typically refer to it as myalgic encephalomyelitis, meaning brain and spinal cord inflammation with muscle pain, and in scientific papers it is often written as ME/CFS. At the same time, a major shift is underway as far as how the medical profession is being advised to approach treatment….”

Link to New York Times article

Continue reading “New Recognition for ME/CFS” →

Millions of Americans and others around the world suffer from an extremely debilitating illness called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which is a poorly understood chronic disease characterized by long-lasting and profound fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, cognitive dysfunction, and pain. Very little is known about the biological basis of this disease, making it extremely difficult to diagnose and treat.

We are very excited to start this blog with the goal of chronicling the research at The Jackson Laboratory Collaborative Research Center (JAX CRC) for ME/CFS, the other two NIH funded ME/CFS CRCs, and ongoing research around the world. We intend to provide links and information on progress made by the CRC, as well as by other researchers in the ME/CFS community. We are hopeful that this will enable us to better engage the ME/CFS community and receive  feedback from patients and advocacy groups in our efforts to find solutions for this disease.

Continue reading “JAX ME/CFS Center Introduction” →