Women with chronic fatigue syndrome fare worse than men
Large survey reinforces the idea that women are more exposed to the risks of the devastating long-term condition
Alarge study has shown that women with myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome ( ME / CFS ) have more symptoms that tend to increase in severity over time compared to men .
Though the condition is still poorly understood , women were already believed to be at a higher risk for it , and the new research , called DecodeME , suggests that women who have had ME / CFS for more than 10 years are more likely to suffer severe symptoms . The hallmark of ME / CFS is profound fatigue and postexertional malaise or a worsening of the illness from any type of physical , mental , or emotional effort . These are accompanied by cognitive and sleep di�culties as well as orthostatic intolerance , which causes symptoms like dizziness when standing up from a reclining position . In the most severe cases , people struggle with daily activities , even getting out of bed .
The elusiveness of ME / CFS , whose cause is uncertain and diagnostic process lacks a reliable test , speaks to why it has long struggled to gain traction as a legitimate medical diagnosis , with many patients dismissed by doctors as hypochondriacs or misdiagnosed with psychological problems like anxiety and depression .
“ At the real heart of this is �that there� has been a real stigma and mistreatment of people with ME for years ,” said Sonya Chowdhury , chief executive of Action for ME , a charity that has been helping recruit participants for the study , to ��� �e�s . “ Having the basic data and the basic science there means that researchers are more likely to take the illness seriously .”
Based on a survey of more than 17,000 people with the condition , the study found that , on average , women report more symptoms than men ( 42 compared to 36 ) and have a higher chance of experiencing a cooccurring condition , such as irritable bowel syndrome , depression , fibromyalgia , and anaemia .
The hope is that deeper understanding of how the condition affects patients will help researchers determine the causes and improve treatments .
The authors of DecodeME are still collecting answers to their questionnaire and plan to study the participants� DNA samples to look for the biological causes of ME / CFS in order to understand whether genetics plays a role .
“ For a long time , people didn ’ t even truly believe that this illness existed ,” study lead Professor Chris Ponting , from the University of Edinburgh , told ��� �e�s . “ The fact this study is looking into the biological causes of ME … I think it will go a long way not just to help people find treatment eventually , but also debunk some of the really harmful stigma as well .”
Some evidence suggests many ME / CFS cases could be triggered by common infections that create minor or no health problems for most people , such as the Epstein-Barr virus , but can lead up to 10 percent of patients to develop chronic illnesses characterised by non-specific symptoms like fatigue , sore throat , achy muscles and joints , and brain fog in the weeks or months after the infection has resolved . But since the majority of patients don ’ t get tested for common infections or even see doctors , these connections aren ’ t picked up .
This hypothesis has been reinforced by the massive number of people who have developed long-term symptoms after COVID-19 infection , some of whom meet the criteria for ME�CFS and offer a unique research opportunity to disentangle some of the mysteries surrounding post-viral chronic problems , including chronic fatigue .
For a long time , people didn ’ t even truly believe that this illness existed
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019
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