WHAT IS ME/CFS?

ME refers to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, a term used in Britain for many years and is used to describe the disease process.  My refers to muscle and algic to pain.  Encephalo refers to brain, myel to spinal cord and itis denotes inflammation.

CFS refers to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. (Syndrome refers to a group of concurrent symptoms of a disease).

In some countries the disease is referred to as ME and in others as CFS and has now become known as ME/CFS until research indicates whether a more suitable name applies.

ME/CFS is an acquired illness that affects all body systems; predominantly the neurological, endocrine and immune systems. It is classified as a neurological illness in the World Health Organization (WHO)  International Classification of Diseases  and can be severely debilitating.

PREVALENCE OF ME/CFS IN CANADA

The 2005 Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada indicated that there were 333,816 people diagnosed with ME/CFS