Professor Leonard Jason – a researcher and person with ME/CFS – has spoken to Brent Franson, presenter of the podcast Death Clock which is ‘devoted to understanding how transformative life change can add years to your life’.
In the episode, Prof. Jason discusses with Franson what ME/CFS is, how it is different to everyday fatigue or burnout, and why post-exertional malaise (PEM) is the defining feature of the disease.
In their conversation, they also consider disease ‘triggers’ – including Jason’s research looking at what people think caused their ME/CFS – misdiagnosis, dismissal by healthcare professionals, and what the latest research suggests about underlying mechanisms.
Jason is a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he also directs the Center for Community Research. His portfolio of research is vast – including work using data from a study funded by ME Research UK – but he is widely recognised for the development of the Depaul Symptom Questionnaires (DSQ), often used in studies to measure symptoms of ME/CFS.
Read some of ME Research UK’s articles relating to Prof. Jason’s work:
- Webinars by Prof Leonard Jason
- Sleep reversal and ME/CFS
- Why might Epstein-Barr virus infection lead to ME/CFS in some people and not in others?
- Improving ME/CFS population sampling
- Family History of Chronic Illness and ME/CFS
- Research shows that ME/CFS is a biological illness – so why do some people still think it is psychological in nature?
- Estimating ME/CFS prevalence in individuals with long COVID
- Can a brief screening scale accurately detect ME/CFS?
- What do people with ME/CFS think caused their illness?
- EBV and ME/CFS – what can we learn from multiple sclerosis?
- The assessment of post-exertional malaise
