Emeritus Professor Warren Tate: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a real disease that has come of age with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
ME/CFS has remained a mystery lifelong debilitating disease for many years with little public profile, despite affecting 15-30 million people worldwide, and 20 000 in NZ. The lack of a molecular-based diagnostic test led to a strong belief the disease was an imagined somatic symptom disorder. In NZ, ME/CFS patients have been poorly served by health professionals and social agencies. We have completed multiple molecular preclinical studies on affected patients and have established unequivocal evidence of a complex disturbance to their biochemistry, their DNA epigenetic code and overall physiology. Public recognition and awareness of ME/CFS has suddenly skyrocketed with post SARS-CoV-2 patients exhibiting symptoms mimicking those of ME/CFS. The global incidence of ME/CFS may double as a result of this pandemic.
