Excellent New ME/CFS Article for Sharing with Doctors

The well-respected Dr. Anthony Komaroff of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has just published an excellent article on ME/CFS in the very prestigious and high-profile Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that will hopefully help to educate doctors around the world and bring some much-needed attention to our neglected disease. You can read and print the article here (it is short).

Komaroff provides a succinct, science-based summary of our disease, referencing the latest research and the recent NIH Conference. He covers the latest findings in the nervous system, immune system, and metabolics of ME/CFS patients in a brief but powerful summary and wraps it up with some theories of overall illness models. 

 

He does get one thing wrong, which is a bit irritating. He says that ME/CFS was first described in the 1980's, but that's the U.S.'s Center for Disease Control's revisionist history, as they renamed the disease (with that much-loved moniker CFS) in the 1980's. But, historically, cluster outbreaks (where many people in a small geographical area suddenly become ill with ME/CFS) were described and recorded as early as the 1930’s in Europe and the U.S. A British outbreak at the Royal Free Hospital in 1955 led to the name ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). However, that's my only quibble - the rest of the article is stellar and will be very useful.

In fact, this brief summary is perfect for sharing with doubting doctors! 

 

I am definitely printing it to share with two new medical professionals we are seeing who "don't get" ME/CFS and also with our wonderful primary care physician who was the first to accurately diagnose me 17+ years ago, just as an update. The author's excellent reputation, the status of the hospital where he works, and the very high prestige of the journal make this a (hopefully) very impactful article.

Print and share with your doctors at your next appointments!