Introduction
Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or ME/CFS remains an elusive diagnosis to most family and primary care practitioners. There are currently no Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatments specific to this disease. Clinical guidance has often recommended cognitive behavioral (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET), but these therapies are inappropriate and potentially harmful for patients with
ME/CFS.
In 2015, the Institute of Medicine (IOM, now called the National Academy of Medicine) issued new clinical diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS and summarized the growing evidence of biological impairment. Since then, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded three Centers of Excellence to study ME/CFS, a pediatric ME/CFS primer has been published, and the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) has updated the diagnostic and treatment information on its website.
Family physicians have a critical role to play in providing early diagnosis and effective treatment of this disabling disease.
