After the rousing discussion we all had on the encephalitis thread, the consensus seems to be that any permanent damage is relatively minor and impairments causing symptoms are largely functional and theoretically reversible.
Thanks to everyone for the great input!
Point 1: People mistakenly telling you ME is largely a benign recoverable condition.
The rousing discussion you speak of is false science, because the people you are talking with cannot give you any data on PWME having a largely benign condition, because it is exceptionally rare PWME are autopsied. In the people who do die young, inflammation is found in the brain (see UK cases) and in the heart (see case of Casey Fero). This is probably 8 people. We need 8,000 people who's brains or bodies are analyzed.
So you have to be mindful that these minor changes people tell you about are people concluding on medical syndromes without data. That facts we do know is: CFS is not ME but a syndrome of unexplained chronic tiredness according to CDC.(CFS doesn't even require chronic pain) - pain is always present in an encephalomyeltiis, both in the muscles and brain, CFS doesn't require the hallmarks of ME either: Dysautonomia, Post Exertional Relapse, Orthostatic Intolerance. One exception to the rule is British CFS/ME (NHS criteria) does require PEM, but PEM is not relapse, it's feeling worse after doing something. Neurotics feeling worse after doing something, as do people with other mental health conditions based on activity phobias. So PEM is not reflective of probably or likely having an 'ME'. Having difficulty standing up is. Yet this isn't a requirement of British CFS/ME or American CFS either.
But the real elephant in the room, is ME has no test and has become CFS due to politics.
ME used to be tied to PVFS (Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome). CFS does not require any association to a virus whatsoever, and neither does British CFS/ME used by the NHS. So the waters are muddied, ruined actually, in terms of research.
You have to look at this logically and without bias which the other thread is full of because 'CFS' patients are feeding you the information. They are biased, as they aren't bedridden with ME and also they aren't deceased.
*A CFS or ME/CFS or CFS/ME patient is not a confirmed ME patient, no one is.
*Patients in neuroimaging studies are NOT severely affected. Severely affected are too sick to be under a brain scanner. In medicine, you always study the most severely affected to find out what a disease and you certainly do not exlude patients with any sign of disease and call these people ME. - Which is what ME/CFS does and what CFS/ME does.This is because....
*At time of diagnosis No one with ME/CFS or CFS/ME is a allowed to have anything wrong with them. Patients with ME have masses of things wrong them, all of which can be diagnosed in a doctors office.
*These people are excluded from research. Ergo, no large study size, quality ME research has ever taken place, because the patients then breach the criteria of CFS.
*Patients are diagnosed with a feeble requirement of 'Chronic Fatigue'. CF is not a disease, and thus your would expect the minor changes your sources have tried to influence you with. Yet your sources on the other thread are failing to adhere to even basic scientific principles.
Point 2: ME more curable than other 'conditions'?
Currently the official diagnosis in use for CFS, CFS/ME, ME/CFS, doesn't require a single abnormal test finding, which means misdiagnosis and guess work is normal for the physicians seeing their patients with 'ME', and thus we have no idea who has ME and who is cured because we never know if they had it or not!
So, unfortunately, if we are to remove our own biases, then no one has ever been cured of ME as to confirm ME outright you'd have to be dead and have an autopsy and brain/spinal tissue would need to be studied under a microscope and so forth, same with Alzheimers and vCJD.
But...as technology, specifically imaging technology advances and at the same time, scientists can determine what would cause this form of an encephalomyeltis found on scans (e.g. a specific pathogen agreed upon by multiple groups of researchers is known to damage neuron type X), then the damage ME causes should be able to be confirmed in patients who are alive.
These patients can then be given treatments and we can see over decades who is cured, (if at all) and compare these statistical rates in order to be able to honestly answer your question.
Then and only then can we see who is 'cured' who 'recovers' in the same way we can say with confidence who has Parkinson's and who is cured and recovered from PD.
Ergo no one has ever been cured of ME, as first you have to be able to accurately diagnose it, and observe an encephalomyelitis state.