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Demographic of MALES!

RustyJ

Contaminated Cell Line 'RustyJ'
Messages
1,200
Location
Mackay, Aust
There does appear to be a change in the language WPI is using. In the Q&A section of XMRV Research, 2nd question down (new): 'Retroviruses do not discriminate based on age, sex or any other characteristic listed.' http://www.wpinstitute.org/xmrv/xmrv_qa.html

Note this only refers to XMRV not to the development of ME. And they still have the female/male disparity in the patient resources FAQs.
 

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
Maybe it has something to do with XMRV. My husband and I have CFS/FMS. He was quicker to be diagnosed and the doctor was more willing to hear from him his opinions on CFS--Regarding it may be caused by an infection rather than psychological. Maybe the doctor was more quick to say he might be right because I have CFS also (and he has some relatives who also have FMS or CFS). However, I do not think so. I don't remember him saying he mentioned the other relatives. I think women are more likely to be told that this disease is psychological and they are just depressed. This is just my opinion of course--It is not a fact.
 

snowathlete

Senior Member
Messages
5,374
Location
UK
For what its worth I am male.

I think this illness for males brings some different dimensions to it, for example, as a male i found it (and still find it) hard not being physically strong. I used to be strong and fit, and feel felt my instinct to protect as being satisfied. Now, I find it hard carrying the shopping in from the car, so its hard to accept that weakness as a male.

From all i have seen and read (which I think includes survey results?) more females get this than males. Probably even if some males with mild ME/CFS dont seek diagnosiss, there still would seem to be way more females with the illness. This would not be the only illness like this, there are plenty of other illnesses which affect one gender more than the other.

What i find interesting is that most females when pregnant have a lessening or even complete lack of ME/CFS symptoms while they are pregnant - at least this is what my local ME clinic told me. That has to be worth some research, if no one has already looked closely at it.
 

Dolphin

Senior Member
Messages
17,567
(OT?) Pregnancy and CFS

What i find interesting is that most females when pregnant have a lessening or even complete lack of ME/CFS symptoms while they are pregnant - at least this is what my local ME clinic told me. That has to be worth some research, if no one has already looked closely at it.

It might be worth studying but is not as clear-cut as your local ME clinic makes out.

Full free text at: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=14980991

Arch Intern Med. 2004 Feb 23;164(4):401-4.

A comparison of pregnancies that occur before and after the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Schacterle RS, Komaroff AL.

Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachasetts 02115, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Many women with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) fear that pregnancy will worsen their condition, increase the risks of maternal complications of pregnancy, or threaten the health of their offspring. Little empirical evidence, however, has been published on this matter.

METHODS: A detailed questionnaire was administered to 86 women regarding 252 pregnancies that occurred before or after the onset of CFS and the outcomes of these pregnancies were observed.

RESULTS: During pregnancy, there was no change in CFS symptoms in 29 (41%), an improvement of symptoms in 21 (30%), and a worsening of symptoms in 20 (29%) of 70 subjects. After pregnancy, there was no change in CFS symptoms in 21 (30%), an improvement of symptoms in 14 (20%), and a worsening of symptoms in 35 (50*%) of the subjects. The rates of many complications were similar in pregnancies occurring before the onset and in those occurring after the onset of CFS. There was a higher frequency of spontaneous abortions in the pregnancies occurring after, vs before, the onset of CFS (22 [30%] of 73 pregnancies after vs 13 [8%] of 171 before; P<.001), but no differences in the rates of other complications. Developmental delays or learning disabilities were reported more often in the offspring of women who became pregnant after, vs before, the onset of CFS (9 [21%] of 43 children vs 11 [8%] of 139 children; P =.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy did not consistently worsen the symptoms of CFS. Most maternal and infant outcomes were not systematically worse in pregnancies occurring after the onset of CFS. The higher rates of spontaneous abortions and of developmental delays in offspring that we observed could be explained by maternal age or parity differences, and should be investigated by larger, prospective studies with control populations.
*Abstract says 20% but this is wrong. But I have seen the 20% figure quoted a lot. There is a big difference between 20% and 50%!!