Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severe, chronic health condition that is often misunderstood or ignored by the health establishment. The lack of definitive diagnostic markers that are used to separate ME/CFS patients from the healthy population, as well as from other chronic disorders, is problematic for both health professionals and researchers.
A consortium of Australian researchers have come together to understand ME/CFS systematically, ranging from a deep analysis of clinical and pathology data, to metabolomic profiles and the investigation of mitochondrial function. From this broad collaboration, a number of compelling insights have arisen that may form the basis of specific serum, blood, and/or urinary biomarkers of ME/CFS.
This Special Edition reports on a conference centred on these biomedical discoveries, and on the translation of these results into tangible, quantitative, and predictive markers, which could diagnose ME/CFS. The conference invites contributions from a range of international collaborators and colleagues, with the aim of sharing the latest results to allow for, as quickly as possible, the identification of disease marker patterns in order to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms of ME/CFS. It is hoped that by supporting health professionals with developments in diagnostics for this condition, the patients and their families will benefit from an improved recognition of the biomedical underpinnings of the condition, and will be better able to access the care that is urgently required.
The Special Edition contains all of the speaker submissions and other accepted manuscripts contributing to our objective for Biomedical Insights that Inform the Diagnosis of ME/CFS.
ME/CFS. The biological basis, diagnosis, treatment, and management.
International Research Symposium
12–15 March 2019, Australia.
Proudly hosted by Emerge Australia
www.emerge.org.au/symposium
Dr. Brett Lidbury
Professor Paul Fisher
Guest editors
