ME/CFS is a disabling disease characterised by a profound lack of energy production. If someone with the disease uses too much energy, they can take weeks or months to recover, and in some cases they never do. The disease is usually lifelong and renders many bedbound with severe cognitive difficulties (thinking takes more energy than some patients have).

Due to low research funding we do not properly understand the biological mechanisms and there is no approved treatment. ME/CFS most commonly strikes people between the ages of 10-40, rendering them unable to work or socialise. The disease presents with a dysregulation of the immune system, which is thought to affect the brain and the mitochondria (energy production in cells). It is relatively common (1 in 100 people), and can be caused by various factors, one being a covid infection. Since the beginning of the pandemic, ME/CFS cases have doubled.

Before there was proof the disease was biological, doctors assumed patients were “hysterical” and dismissed them. Because of the after-effects of this, it is still not taught in most medical schools. Most doctors either do not know of it, or are not aware of the new research showing it is biological. Patients face much stigma and are often gaslit and led to do treatments that are harmful. In fact, it takes more than 5 years for the average patient to find a doctor knowledgeable enough to diagnose them.

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