Recently, an article entitled ‘An Overview of Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis‘ (Vink et al, 2026) was published on the Journal of Clinical Medicine. The ME Association is proud to be acknowledged (page 32) regarding funding of the processing fees for this article.
Abstract
In this article, we have reviewed the literature on severe myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). ME/CFS is a clinical diagnosis in the absence of a diagnostic test. However, in research settings and disability disputes, 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing can be used to diagnose and document the abnormal response to exercise. Biomedical research into this disease has been scarce and underfunded for decades. Consequently, there are no effective treatments. In its most severe form, it is more disabling than many other diseases, and patients are bedbound 24/7, dependent on carers, and spend their days in dark and quiet rooms.
Even the soft sound of a human voice can lead to further deterioration. Some of the very severely ill suffer from life-threatening malnutrition and need to be tube-fed. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in the number of patients with post-infectious diseases, and many of them fulfill ME/CFS criteria. Dedicated, focused research using advanced medical technologies is needed to gain further understanding of the underlying disease mechanism. This will enable us to find effective pharmacological treatments and address the unmet medical needs of these very ill people.
Information from Page 32
Funding: The article processing charges were paid by the UK ME Association which provides support, research, expert information and a helpline for the community of people affected by ME/CFS. The UK ME Association was not involved in the review or the writing of it.
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the UK ME Association for paying the article processing charges.
N.B.
The authors of this paper are based in the Netherlands – where a 2 day cardio-pulmonary exercise test is sometimes used in disability claim disputes.