In many ways, this week’s episode on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a companion piece to last week’s episode on Long Covid. The two share many similarities: a wide range of debilitating symptoms lingering long after infection, an illness which can transform from day to day or week to week, dismissal and downplaying by the medical community, a big question mark under “pathophysiological cause”, and so many others. These parallels can tell us a great deal about our concepts of disease and how we deal with uncertainty in science and medicine. But the differences between these two can be equally revealing. In this episode, we dig into what we know and what we hypothesize about the biological underpinnings of ME/CFS before tracing the twisty history of this disease, as popular perception switched back and forth and back again from “real” to “imagined” disease. We wrap up the episode with a look at some of the current research and promising treatments for ME/CFS. Both ME/CFS and Long Covid demonstrate the power of patients and patient advocates in raising awareness about poorly understood diseases and the impact that sharing personal stories can have. You can find more incredible work by Katie Walters, the provider of one of our firsthands for this episode, by clicking on this link.
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Ep 42 Dandy Dengue Fever
Ep 41 Ricin: A Bad Seed
Ep 40 Dancing Plague: Worst Dance Party Ever
Ep 39 Toxoplasmosis: Calling All Cats
Ep 38 Lead Poisoning: Heavy Metal Episode
Ep 37 E. coli (unless it's beets)
Ep 36 Shades of Syphilis
Ep 35 Lyme Disease: I'd like to check you for ticks
Ep 34 Cystic Fibrosis: Complete Somatic Rebellion
Ep 33 Chytrid: The Silent Forest
Ep 32 Ask the Erins
Ep 31 Giardia: Gerardia
Ep 30 Encephalitis Lethargica: Sleep Perchance to Dream (& Dream & Dream)
Ep 29 Aspirin the Wonder Drug: Crossover w/ IDOP
Ep 28 H. pylori: Don't try this at home
Ep 27 Vaccines Part 2: Have you thanked your immune system lately?
Ep 26 Vaccines part 1: Let's hear it for Maurice
Ep 25 Put your hands together for: Gonorrhea!
Ep 24 Zika: Rumors and Rumours
Ep 23 Opening a can of Hookworms
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