Western Lifestyle

[sedwen01]

I was wondering if there is any data on where in the world M.E. is most abundant and whether or not the way that we live in western society has any bearing on the prevalence of this illness.

It's an interesting thought. What are your feelings on this?

[Dr Charles Shepherd]

Most of the epidemiological studies have been carried out in countries like Australia, Canada, UK and USA - where the prevalence seems to be fairly similar

But prevalence figures obviously depend on which sort of diagnostic criteria are used

There are a limited number of studies from other parts of the world - including Japan and South America

Reports from doctors elsewhere indicate that ME/CFS does occur in countries such as Africa and India but with medical recognition levels being so low the actual prevalence remains uncertain

So whilst it's tempting to speculate on factors associated with Western lifestyle there is no firm evidence to make such a link

There is a section on Epidemiology in the MEA purple booklet that summaries and references current research findings

MEA website and pdf literature form: http://www.meassociation.org.uk