ME: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Malingerers Excuse?

[Action Jackson]

Real condition or just an excuse for lazy people to continue being lazy?

Doctors seem divided as to whether or not this should have been classified as an 'official' condition. Especially as there are no conclusive tests to diagnose this condition (they test you for everything else and if they can't find anything else wrong then they diagnose you with ME).

This now seems to be opening the doors for people to jump on the bandwagon in order to give them an excuse not to seek work ("I'm not lazy, I have ME, honest".

And why has ME only arrived in our society in the last couple of decades? No one seemed to have it 100 years ago.

And why is it only Western people seem to get ME (Africans and Asians don't seem to be suffering from it)?


Sorry, but I'm just not convinced as to the validity of this condition.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Originally Posted by Action Jackson

And why has ME only arrived in our society in the last couple of decades? No one seemed to have it 100 years ago.

Nobody was subjected to constant radiation from radio waves a 100 years ago, no one cooked with a microwave 100 years ago. The world is a different place to what it was 100 years ago and maybe some of those differences just arent good for the human body.

[peanut]

I must have ME myself, as I know one person with it, is much more active than I am, takes the dog out for long walks many times a day etc, makes me knackered just watching him. And yes, he's off work (permanently) with it.

I think there are people that do jump on the bandwagon which don't help those with a genuine problem.

I ain't a doctor and I don't know all the facts for ME and even though I know a few that do take the buiscuit, I won't and can't tar everyone with the same brush.

Being ill myself and quite house bound, I do suffer from the usual symptoms that comes with being like that, eg low self esteem, lack of self respect, depression, and because I don't move around much and not classed as being active I would feel tried and knackered. Everything that could be assembled and classed as ME or just plain lazy I suppose.

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

Nobody was subjected to constant radiation from radio waves a 100 years ago, no one cooked with a microwave 100 years ago. The world is a different place to what it was 100 years ago and maybe some of those differences just arent good for the human body.

Microwaves cause ME?

I take your point on board about the world being a different place and so therefore we have new diseases/ailments etc that come with living in a different environment.

But is ME an actual condition?

You go to the doctors complaining of tiredness and he tests you for diabetes and various other conditions. If he can't find anything definitively wrong then he declares that you have ME. Hardly conclusive is it? Seems more like a get-out for the doctors.

I'm not saying that a lot of these people aren't genuinely tired or suffering from fatigue, but could this not simply be psychosomatic with a dash of hypochondria?

---------- Post added at 13:00 ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 ----------

Originally Posted by peanutkp

I must have ME myself, as I know one person with it, is much more active than I am, takes the dog out for long walks many times a day etc, makes me knackered just watching him. And yes, he's off work (permanently) with it.

I think there are people that do jump on the bandwagon which don't help those with a genuine problem.

I ain't a doctor and I don't know all the facts for ME and even though I know a few that do take the buiscuit, I won't and can't tar everyone with the same brush.

I play 5-a-side football twice a week with a guy who says he is suffering from ME(my inspiration for the thread). He is the most energetic bloke on the park and doesn't stop running for the full hour and a half.

He too is off work permanently.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

My understanding is there are a number of conditions that doctors can only diagnose on the basis of elliminating all other conditions, ME isnt the only one.

I guess you could say Stress is the same then? Its a pull yourself together and get on with it ailment. If only life were so simple. However i agree, people do get on the bandwagon

[phaze9]

My wife has had this illness for the last 15 years , she used to go to the gym 3 times a week , worked for the Health service ( Sister's Post ) until she caught it. They eventually found out after 3 years ! that it was caused by a virus which attacked the muscles of her heart, I do agree that some people use it as an excuse but I do get a bit miffed when people who have not
(a) suffered from it or
(b) have to care for somone who has it,
making judgement calls on it and putting it down to stress or some other excuse.

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

My understanding is there are a number of conditions that doctors can only diagnose on the basis of elliminating all other conditions, ME isnt the only one.

I guess you could say Stress is the same then? Its a pull yourself together and get on with it ailment. If only life were so simple. However i agree, people do get on the bandwagon

I think that a lot of the blame lies with lazy doctors. A patient persists that they have something wrong with them, doctor test them to death(not literally), then it gets to the point where the doctor simply has to diagnose them with something.


Stress is easier to spot as a condition someone is suffering from rather than deducing that someone has ME just because they are tired a lot(too tired for work but not for going to the pub or playing sports it seems). But you are right, because there are no definitive tests for it then it can be faked and diagnosed quite easily with a bit of persistence and some acting skills.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Action Jackson

I think that a lot of the blame lies with lazy doctors. A patient persists that they have something wrong with them, doctor test them to death(not literally), then it gets to the point where the doctor simply has to diagnose them with something.

I take it you know little or nothing about medical diagnostics then.

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by phaze9

My wife has had this illness for the last 15 years , she used to go to the gym 3 times a week , worked for the Health service ( Sister's Post ) until she caught it. They eventually found out after 3 years ! that it was caused by a virus which attacked the muscles of her heart, I do agree that some people use it as an excuse but I do get a bit miffed when people who have not
(a) suffered from it or
(b) have to care for somone who has it,
making judgement calls on it and putting it down to stress or some other excuse.

1. You can't 'catch' ME.

2. She obviously didn't have ME then if it turned out to be a virus which attacked the muscles in her heart(ME is not a virus and can't be definitively diagnosed). She was obviously suffering from something else entirely.

3. She managed to go to the gym 3 times a week, but still thought she had ME?

[Jules]

I believe it is a genuine condition that we don't know enough about yet, but I also believe people are too quick to use it as a excuse when they do not have the condition. A bit like people that say they have flu when they have a cold etc.
For the genuine cases they have my sympathy as it can be a terribly debilitating illness

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by Russ B

I take it you know little or nothing about medical diagnostics then.

I think that doctors are under a lot of pressure to diagnose persistent patients.


It's much like the debate about how bugs are becoming resistant to anti-biotics due to over subscription for viral conditions that would clear up by themselves anyway(MRSA being a classic example of a resistant bug).

This is mostly down to people like mothers who take children into the doctor with ear/throat infections and demand penicillin/amoxycillin for their screaming child, whereas most doctors agree that they would rather adopt a 'wait and see' policy and simply give pain medicine when it comes to viral infections, because studies prove that most of these infections will clear up by themselves in just as quick a time as if they gave them anti-biotics.


This is not the case for 'bacterial' infections obviously.

[peanut]

Having read some of the symptoms, I do have my doubts that the person I know who is diagnosed with it really does has it. But I can not confirm that. But if the Doc said he's got it then he must have it right?

I think the term ME is now generalised into lazyitis and nothing more, and then passed on to the point of being trivialised. The same with ADHD, just take these pills and stick a label on your head and go away. (Not always the case but just to make a point here).

I don't know anyone personally who does suffer those symptoms I've read, it doesn't sound nice that's for sure.

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by peanutkp

Having read some of the symptoms, I do have my doubts that the person I know who is diagnosed with it really does has it. But I can not confirm that. But if the Doc said he's got it then he must have it right?

I think the term ME is now generalised into lazyitis and nothing more, and then passed on to the point of being trivialised. The same with ADHD, just take these pills and stick a label on your head and go away. (Not always the case but just to make a point here).

I don't know anyone personally who does suffer those symptoms I've read, it doesn't sound nice that's for sure.

I have read accounts of people diagnosed with ME who are unable to leave their bed and genuinely seem to be suffering.

This is a far cry from the guy who simply can't be arsed going to work or feels a bit too tired to go to the shops for a pint of milk (who doesn't feel a bit tired most of the time?).

[Salu]

Originally Posted by Action Jackson

1. You can't 'catch' ME.

2. She obviously didn't have ME then if it turned out to be a virus which attacked the muscles in her heart(ME is not a virus and can't be definitively diagnosed). She was obviously suffering from something else entirely.

3. She managed to go to the gym 3 times a week, but still thought she had ME?

1. We don't know this as we don't know what the cause is, if indeed the condition exists which is the subject of continual debate. Can you justify this assertion?

2. You seem very confident of your assertions but I think you need to be less sweeping with your statements. Firstly ME has been said to be a post viral syndrome so it isn't that unlikely to be diagnosed following myocarditis?? Fatigue in general is well documented following a viral infection. So it would be a logical hypothesis.......What makes you dismiss it so easily?

Originally Posted by Action Jackson

And why has ME only arrived in our society in the last couple of decades? No one seemed to have it 100 years ago.

ME has been documented since the early 1930s....There is also something called DaCosta's syndrome which was described in the latter half of the 19th century. It has been said this could be an early description of CFS.

[Action Jackson]

Originally Posted by Salu

1. We don't know this as we don't know what the cause is, if indeed the condition exists which is the subject of continual debate. Can you justify this assertion?

2. You seem very confident of your assertions but I think you need to be less sweeping with your statements. Firstly ME has been said to be a post viral syndrome so it isn't that unlikely to be diagnosed following myocarditis?? Fatigue in general is well documented following a viral infection. So it would be a logical hypothesis.......What makes you dismiss it so easily?

Next you'll be saying that obesity is also a disease rather than just an uncontrollable love of the chip shop.