Disease behind tiredness doctors know 'almost nothing about' affecting a quarter of a million people in the UK
24.09.2023 - 15:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A disease that doctors know 'almost nothing' about is affecting an estimated 250,000 people in the UK. Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME, is a long-term condition that can cause extreme tiredness and is most common among women.
Researchers are now urging sufferers to take part in the world’s largest study into the condition in a bid to learn more about its causes and symptoms - and tackle the stigma surrounding it. Professor Chris Ponting, from the University of Edinburgh, is leading the DecodeME study, which aims to find a genetic cause of the condition.
He describes ME as a “disease of which we know almost nothing”. Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “We don’t know what causes it, we don’t know how to properly diagnose it, we don’t know how to manage its symptoms well, and we certainly don’t know how to cure it."
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Research suggests that ME could be triggered by genetics as well as infections, immune system problems and hormone imbalance. The DecodeME study hopes to test 20,000 individual DNA samples from people living with ME and Prof Ponting hopes that his exploration of genetics will lead his team to “find the unexpected”.
He said: “Perhaps it is what some people expect – some defect in the immune system or nervous system or mitochondrial disease. It may yet be something else that has never been suspected, never been investigated. And that’s the key thing. Finding what is going wrong will allow a very narrow focus in the future. On what is the actual thing that’s going on. Because only then will there be drugs that