ME/CFS

"The acronym ME/CFS is currently used by researchers to reflect the difference in nomenclature. Even though the case definitions of the two illnesses do not match, specialists in the US who treat chronic fatigue syndrome acknowledge that the diseases are fundamentally the same."

History
The first recorded outbreak of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis was at Los Angeles County Hospital in 1934. The name Myalgic Encephalomyelitis first appeared in medical literature in 1956. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognized ME as a distinct disorder and classified it as a specific neurological disorder in 1969. The term CFS was first used in medical literature in the 1980's in the United States; the name change occurred when the CDC literature began using the name CFS. The criteria focused on fatigue and not as much on the encephalitic (inflammation of the brain) features of the disorder. This was the beginning of defining the disorder as a psychiatric illness. Doctors began using ME and CFS interchangeably due to the broad CFS definition in the late 1990's and early 2000's.

The ME name was not fully accepted by the medical and government health agencies while CFS was not found to be acceptable by patients and some health practitioners.

In 2006 Rich Carson, founder of ProHealth starts a Name Change Campaign. The term ME/CFS was proposed in 2007 at the International IACFS conference and in 2008 Invest in ME joined with IiME in using the new name.

Controversy
It is believed by some in the ME, CFS and ME/CFS community that the name Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and then the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome name are a product of medical insurance companies.