Disability From Various Diseases Shows MECFS Severity

MECFS is a severe illness.

I don't know how to say this more clearly than showing you this graph to see for yourself.

This graph is made from SF-36 data from all of the above diseases. This is a well-established scale by the World Health Organization for measuring disability. As you can see #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis is more disabling both mentally and physically than lung disease, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, amputation/paralysis, and sciatica. Not pictured here but included in the study were rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and vision impairment all of which were also less disabling than #ME/#CFS.

The final slide shows a graph taken directly from the study which illustrates various conditions across the full range of SF-36 domains. As you can see both men and women with ME are significantly more impaired in every category. With depression in the mental distress category being the only disease to come close to the level of impairment that ME presents.

This study was done on an average severity sample of ME patients. When you consider how incredibly sick #severeME patients are compared to the average is it any wonder that so many severe patients find life not worth living? Why so many patients only cling to life by the tiny hope of recovery?

Why is this disease so extremely disabling? Because it stops activity at the root. It steals the very energy you need to complete any task. It takes away the very essence of life. It is a #livingdeath and there are #millionsmissing and #millionsmore coming due to #longcovid.

So next time someone says to you that it's "just #chronicfatigue" (it's NOT) or that it "can't be that bad" show them this chart. Show them this study. Let the data speak for itself.

We are not overreacting. We are underreacting. We need to demand change. We need to demand #research to #cureMECFS. We need to tell the government that underfunding our treatments and research by 20 million dollars a year is unacceptable. That we will not be left for #yearsinlockdown

any longer.