when does PVFS become ME

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reneMEFMS
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by reneMEFMS on Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:32 pm

when does PVFS become ME

I was diagnosed with PVFS after I failed to recover from a viral illness I was off six weeks from work and there was definite ongoing infection as my blood tests showed clear immune abnormalities that confirmed that> I didn't recover and went back to work two soon and was back sick again within a week same blood tests results ongoing infection ..Three years later I was told I must have ME as PVFS only lasts 18 months so when does the illness change over to ME as I clearly had a prolonged viral infection to start with

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Dr Charles Shepherd
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by Dr Charles Shepherd on Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:54 am

Re: when does PVFS become ME

Rene

This is the information on Nomenclature from the MEA purple booklet:

ME/CFS/PVFS A disease of many names

● ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) is a name that was originally introduced in a Lancet editorial (Leading Article, 1956) to describe people with the illness who had been admitted to London’s Royal Free Hospital back in 1955. Clinically, myalgic was used to refer to the characteristic muscle symptoms; encephalomyelitis to the brain symptoms. Pathologically, encephalomyelitis indicates inflammation within the brain and spinal cord – a description for which there is currently very little evidence (Schwartz et al 1994).

● CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) is the name currently favoured by the medical profession because it makes no firm assumption about cause. However, the term is widely disliked and viewed as inappropriate by the patient community – a view that we share. It is rather like describing dementia as a ‘chronic forgetfulness syndrome’. Two major criticisms of CFS as a name are that it fails to reflect the diverse symptomatology and severity of the illness and it has become a convenient label for anyone with persistent unexplained fatigue. It should also be noted that CFS as currently defined in section 3 is designed to select homogeneous groups of patients for research purposes. The definition is not intended for the diagnostic assessment of what is a very hetero- geneous group of clinical presentations.

● PVFS (post-viral fatigue syndrome) was introduced during the 1980s as a description for patients who could clearly trace the onset of their illness back to a viral infection. PVFS is a helpful description to use when an extended period of ill health follows an acute infection and a diagnosis of ME/CFS is not yet appropriate.

MEA website and pdf literature form: http://www.meassociation.org.uk
Dr Charles Shepherd
MB BS, Honorary Medical Adviser, ME Association

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