Key genetic differences found in people with chronic fatigue syndrome
Key genetic differences found in people with chronic fatigue syndrome
www.newscientist.com
Key genetic differences found in people with chronic fatigue syndrome
18 comments
18 comments
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME or ME/CFS. Calling it "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" is outdated and offensive because of how dismissive the name is.
When you come up with a new name in English, I'll start using it. Until then, chronic fatigue I can remember.
Euphemism treadmill. It is not offensive to me.
Your experience is not universal. My experience is not universal. It's not a euphemism to try to give a more accurate name to something. We can agree or disagree over whether or not the new name is a good one or whether the old name is.
It's offensive to at least a significant proportion of us, speaking anecdotally. My main problem is not fatigue, so the name is a poor one for me.
It is to me because I still have to explain to my doctors that I'm not sleepy.
Aren't both terms criticized? There is no inflammation (proven) so the term -itis is objectively wrong.
CFS can be dismissive but at least describes the symptoms somewhat accurately from everything I've read.
Though I'm not affected by the disease so my authority on this subject is zero.
The problem with the name is the focus on fatigue. Yes, fatigue is a huge part of it, but there are many more symptoms, some of which can be as debilitating or more debilitating than the fatigue.
For example, many people with ME/CFS experience POTS and other autonomic dysfunction.
The new genetic findings actually support a biological basis regardless of what we call it - researchers found differences in genes related to immune function and energy metabolism, which finally gives us some concrete evidence beyond just symptoms to study whats actually happening in these patients bodies.
Why is that offensive?
It evokes images of someone being always tired, someone looking like they're lazy. But it's so much worse. Any exertion (physical, mental or emotional) that is too much can lead to severe pain and flu-like symptoms and a reduction in what is "too much". On top of being tired and weak, both in muscles and mind.
Soo many doctors don't listen and think I'm sleepy all the time when sleepiness is something entirely different.
Most people hear "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" and think (and, worse, even say out loud) something along the lines of "everybody is tired" because they don't know that what they think of as fatigue is not anywhere in the realm of what patients experience.
Also, for decades, even doctors had that same misunderstanding and dismissed it as being not real, psychological, etc. Unfortunately, many or possibly even most doctors still treat it that way.
The name is dismissive. It does not do justice to the variety and severity of symptoms. There is far more than just fatigue involved.