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ME Charities Join Forces for ME AWARENESS MONTH
Added: (Sat Oct 28 2006)
Two UK charities involved with funding and performing biomedical research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) are combining efforts during May 2007 to publicise events up and down the country to raise awareness of ME.
The two ME charities – ME Research UK and Invest in ME - are joining forces to arrange a national campaign throughout the UK with the hope that a breakthrough in treating this illness may not be so far off.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) is defined by the World Health Organisation as a neurological illness (code WHO-ICD-10-G93.3). With at least 250,000 sufferers of ME in the UK alone, many of them children, ME is estimated (by parliamentary EDM 260) as costing the UK economy £3.5 billion per year and the true figure may be even greater. No public funding of biomedical research is currently taking place in the UK so biomedical research projects are funded solely by the work of ME support groups and individuals.
At present there is no medical diagnostic test for ME and no known specific treatment or cure.
Despite the impression often given by the press and psychological professionals, ME is not a psychological illness; psychological investigations (which have had the lion's share of research funding in the past) cannot uncover its cause and psychological therapies cannot provide a cure.
The varying symptoms experienced by many severe ME sufferers may include: -
visual problems, vocal/muscular limitations, general chronic weakness of limbs, cognitive problems such as memory loss & concentration difficulties, problems with balance and fine motor control, muscle pain, malaise, hypersensitivity, sleep & temperature disturbance, cardiovascular symptoms, digestive disturbances, neurological disturbances.
ME is a multi-system illness and requires investment in biomedical research to provide treatment and a cure. The recent case of Sophia Mirza, who died from ME, shows the urgency of funding research into treatments and in finding a cure. ME is five times more prevalent in the UK than HIV/AIDS.
ME Awareness Month 2007 will open on 2-3rd May 2007 when Invest in ME will be hosting the 2nd International iiME ME Conference in London.
ME Research UK will be hosting their ME conference at the end of the month in Edinburgh.
Other events around the world will be performed during the month of May – with ME Awareness Day (12th May) being the focal point for the month. Our aims are -
1. Funding research: With no public funding of biomedical research into ME we are hoping to attract more funding for research activities coordinated by ME Research UK. We hope that the government will recognize the high-quality research being carried out by scientists being funded by ME Research UK.
2. Raising awareness: ME needs more awareness from the public, politicians and healthcare staff. It is now the leading cause for long term absence from school. ME Awareness Month will be an opportunity to raise the profile of ME and allow more knowledge about the illness to be provided.
3. Providing a voice: 25% of people diagnosed with ME are severely affected – house-bound, often bed-bound, left with little help from the medical community, often made to struggle to obtain benefits and left to an uncertain and debilitating future.
More details can be found from Invest in ME (http://www.investinme.org) and ME research UK (http://www.meresearch.org.uk).