ME - abbreviation (
Health and Fitness) Short for myalgic encephalomyelitis, a benign but debilitating and often long-lasting condition which usually occurs after a viral infection and causes headaches, fever, muscular pain, extre
me fatigue, and weakness. Etymology: The initial letters of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. History and Usage:
ME, which has also been known as post-viral fatigue syndro
me or post-viral syndro
me (because it so often follows a viral
infection ), or Royal Free or Iceland disease (after two famous unexplained outbreaks), has been the cause of considerable debate in the
medical
world since the late seventies. Although there have been docu
mented cases of the symptoms associated with
ME since the fifties, no definite cause could at first be found (
some connection with coxsackieviruses was identified in the late eighties); it is really only during the eighties that
ME was recognized as anything more than a psychosomatic
condition by doctors
and public alike. The syndro
me tends to attack high achievers with a busy lifestyle, causing them to take months or even years to recover from what at first
sight appeared to be no more than
an attack of flu--hence the colloquial nickna
mes which have been
applied to
it , including yuppie flu. The abbreviation
ME has been in common use since the early eighties. Post-viral syndro
me, or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (
ME), is a mysterious illness, a chronic disease a generation of doctors dismissed as 'shirker's sickness'. Woman's Day (
Melbourne)
4 Jan. 1988, p.
29 Maria-Elsa Bragg, 23, has been battling for more than
two years against the mystery disease
ME...The illness, full na
me Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, affects about 150,000 Britons, mostly
women . Sunday
Mirror 16 Apr. 1989, p.
9 My local bookshop has just given '
ME' (myalgic encephalomyelitis) the final seal of approval, its own shelf.
British Medical Journal 3 June 1989, p. 1532
