Portal:History and People/Selected advocates/5

Source: healthrising.org

Mary Dimmock worked in the pharmaceutical industry but later became a patient advocate after her son, Matthew Lazell-Fairman, became sick in 2010. In 2015, Mary published an extensively referenced advocacy paper with her son, documenting the history of the disease since the 1980s, "Thirty Years of Disdain: How HHS and A Group of Psychiatrists Buried Myalgic Encephalomyelitis." She has worked on and supported countless advocacy projects, collaborating with numerous individuals and organizations. (more...)

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.