nanonug
Senior Member
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- 1,709
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- Virginia, USA
I'm feeling a little malicious today so I've decided to poke the bear in the face with a potentially controversial opinion.
Right now, we have SEID, CFS and ME, and combinations thereof, to name this condition we find ourselves in. This is my opinion on the three designations and what my preference currently is.
Having expressed that SEID is my preference, do I think this is the best possible designation of our condition? Probably not. Do I have a better proposal? Nope! For these reasons, and henceforth, I'll be referring to the condition formerly known as CFS, ME, ME/CFS or CFS/ME as SEID. Until something better comes along, that is.
Right now, we have SEID, CFS and ME, and combinations thereof, to name this condition we find ourselves in. This is my opinion on the three designations and what my preference currently is.
- ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: this one is "wrong by definition." Without evidence, it asserts that our condition is a neurological disease. Problem is, no one knows what the etiology is. Therefore, calling our condition a neurological disease is, at best, wishful thinking, probably based on the desire to shut the psychobabblers off.
- CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: I have a natural aversion to any medical condition called "syndrome." It means no one knows what the heck the problem is but there is acknowledgement that there is something wrong going on. In this sense, truthiness about acknowledging unknown etiology is a positive. My problem with this designation is that our condition is not primarily about persistent fatigue. In any case, I still prefer CFS to ME as it doesn't make the kind of unwarranted assumption about the etiology.
- SEID, Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease: this is currently my preferred designation. Correctly asserts that it is systemic, i.e., that it affects the whole body; correctly asserts that the main characteristic of this condition is post-exertional malaise; and, correctly asserts that the condition is a biological disease, thus shutting the psychobabblers off. Given that SEID was defined by the Institute of Medicine also brings a great deal of credibility to the name and therefore the associated condition.
Having expressed that SEID is my preference, do I think this is the best possible designation of our condition? Probably not. Do I have a better proposal? Nope! For these reasons, and henceforth, I'll be referring to the condition formerly known as CFS, ME, ME/CFS or CFS/ME as SEID. Until something better comes along, that is.