On another ME forum, there is a thread about symptoms of connective tissue degradation in PWME. Someone has suggested that having lots of stretch marks on the skin would be a sign of this. Do you think that is correct?
I don't think there is any reason to think there is any connective tissue degradation in PWME, unless they get very malnourished from not eating - i.e. seriously underweight. I think there is confusion because of the idea that ME overlaps with EDS but even in EDS there is no tissue degradation, it is just that it develops with a stretchier structure.
Off topic but isn't not being able to carry out it's intended function as it's supposed to in itself evidence of degradation? Whatever the reason, be it genetic, illness, malnourishment, physical damage, if a joint can't function as it should isn't that joint 'degraded'? So if the tissue in a joint can't function as it should, leading to the joint exhibiting unusual behaviour, for whatever reason, isn't that tissue degraded?
Not in standard medical usage and probably not in standard usage generally. Degradation implies a process of degrading - grading down from a higher grade. A prototype car that does not run is not degraded but an old banger that has rusted away is. Google dictionary: to break down or deteriorate.
Many seem to forget that degradation not explains why one minute it malfunctions and the next it functions well
Is one of the things on the criteria but you have to have other things, not just that. I have connective issues and I do have horrible stretch marks since I was 9y old, not due to weight, I loose wight I get a new set, if I gain i get a new set, I sneeze and get some
