World Sleep Day, an annual event organised by the World Sleep Society, aims to raise awareness of sleep-related issues and promote better management of sleep disorders. This year’s theme, “Make Sleep Health a Priority,” highlights the importance of prioritising sleep for overall wellbeing. For individuals with ME/CFS, sleep disturbances are a core feature of the […]
In 2015, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), published clinical criteria for diagnosing ME/CFS. According to the committee responsible, these criteria “focus more on the central symptoms of this disease than many other definitions” yet “are quite similar to the Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC).” The committee also acknowledged that […]
Key points ME/CFS in children and young people Both children and young people, under the age of 18 years old, can develop ME/CFS. Although the disease is more common in adolescents – those who are in the phase between childhood and adulthood (adolescence); defined by the World Health Organisation as those aged between 10-19 years […]
The following will summarise key findings and limitations of the studies discussed in the article “Existing estimates of ME/CFS prevalence and their limitations“. Evidence of the prevalence of ME/CFS in the UK – Samms and Ponting (2025) The most recent study relating to the prevalence of ME/CFS in the UK is a paper by Samms […]
Several studies do provide estimates for the prevalence of ME/CFS in the UK – and elsewhere in the world – with published figures for the UK ranging from 0.1% to 2.62%. The most recent peer-reviewed estimate for the UK, published in April 2025, uses information recorded in hospital records – hospital episode statistics (HES) data – for […]
Overview ME Research UK attended “The 16th Invest in ME Research International ME Conference 2024”, which was held at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, on 28th June 2024. The conference featured a variety of presentations and discussions centred on advancing research and clinical trials in ME/CFS. Videos of the presentation are available via […]
Key points Background At the 1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in ME/CFS and Long COVID earlier this year, former ME Research UK grant award-holder Dr Nuno Sepúlveda highlighted that disease heterogeneity – how a disease can present differently from person to person – is one of the biggest challenges in ME/CFS research. In ME/CFS, this […]
Key points: In summary: Conference Discussion On the 3rd and 4th April this year, ME Research UK attended, virtually, the “1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in ME/CFS and Long COVID” held in Portugal. In a brief overview of the conference, ME Research UK identify 5 key themes which emerged – this article […]
Key points: Background Research suggests that compared to people without ME/CFS, those with the disease are more likely to have a family member with ME/CFS, or other chronic illnesses including cancer, autoimmune conditions, and metabolic disorders. For example: Author Summary of findings Albright and colleagues (2011) Relatives of people with “CFS” were more likely to […]
Researchers Jiasheng Su, Kiran Thapaliya, Natalie Eaton-Fitch, Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik, Leighton Barnden Institution Griffith University, Australia Publication Brain Connectivity, 2023 April; 13(3):164–73 Funding ME Research UK funded Dr Su. The study was also supported by grants from various other research and charitable foundations. Abstract Background Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease with unknown […]
