Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Notices and Discussion - United Kingdom (MEND-UK)

Membership of this group is restricted to patients, advocates, and carers of those who fit the Ramsey description of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) coded G93.3 neurological disease in the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Those who fit the Oxford criteria for psychosomatic Chronic Fatigue coded F48.0 are asked to exclude themselves from joining this group.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a multi-system neurological disease that shares many of the symptoms of other neurological diseases such as Post-Polio and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). ME has been said to be clinically indistinguishable from Post-Polio, and the comparison of ME and MS is appropriate because in some cases of ME, as in Multiple Sclerosis, there is evidence of oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid indicating Central Nervous System (CNS) inflammation.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis has been documented in medical literature since 1934 and has occurred in epidemics all over the world. ME has been formally classified by the World Health Organisation as a neurological disorder in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) since 1969.