Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction (CFIDS) is also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

CFIDS is a disabling condition often affecting the central nervous system, brain, blood, muscles, joints, GI tract and lymph system. Symptoms include disabling fatigue which is not significantly helped by rest, orthostatic intolerance (inability to stand for periods of time), muscle weakness and pain, joint pain, sleep disturbances and un-refreshing sleep, cognitive problems including memory loss and difficulty concentrating, gastro-intestinal problems, headache, fevers and swollen lymph nodes.

The goal of the National CFIDS Foundation is to fund science to prove the cause along with a treatment or cure. A portion of all membership dues goes toward this along with all donations with no percentage held back. Although we feel we are close, we will continue to follow up on any leads until our goal is fully met.

Important research has already been funded by our all volunteer charity that found a slow decimation of a part of the immune system called Stat-1 which can only be caused by a limited number of viruses and bacteria. Our funding also found the reason why patients had dramatically adverse effects from anesthesia and how to prevent that as well as scientific proof that CFIDS/ME is an autoimmune disease. Our work will continue until the cause has been proven. At that time, we will, gratefully, be able to "go out of existence."

What's in a Name?

The illness currently called Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction (CFIDS) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is poorly defined, misunderstood, and controversial while remaining under-funded and under-researched. 

The names CFIDS and CFS trivialize the illness and subject patients to incredulity and ridicule. The CFS label not only fails to help those with ME, it harms them because treatments considered effective for CFS can make ME patients worse. Simply “renaming” CFS will not solve this problem.

Read and sign the petition we co-sponsor to try to have the United States government recognize the name and case definition of the internationally recognized neurological disease, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).*

The illness gained national attention in the United States when the popular magazine Hippocrates ran a cover story of an epidemic at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in the mid-1980s.^[34] The designation Chronic Epstein–Barr Virus was in use in the U.S.,^[35][36] but the magazine used the term "Raggedy Ann Syndrome" to note the fatigue and loss of muscle power patients felt.^[37] Researchers investigating the Lake Tahoe cluster did not find evidence that EBV was involved, and they proposed the name "chronic fatigue syndrome", describing a main symptom of the illness.^[38][39] They published the first working case definition for CFS in 1988.^[40] Research increased considerably, and more so after the criteria were relaxed in 1994.^[41]

In 1990, researchers presented evidence they found DNA sequences very similar to the human HTLV-II retrovirus in some CFS patients, at a conference in Kyoto, Japan.^[42][43] Their study was later published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.^[44] A reporter on Prime Time Live stated the announcement made headlines all over the world. The CDC first ignored their findings,^[45] then later conducted a study and published a paper that refuted the hypothesis.^[46]

In the United Kingdom, the Chief Medical Officer Kenneth Calman requested a report from the medical Royal Colleges in 1996. This led to the publication of a joint report in which the term "chronic fatigue syndrome" was found to be most representative.^[47] This was followed in 2002 by a further report by the new CMO, Liam Donaldson.^[48]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recognize CFS as a serious illness, and launched a campaign in June 2006 to raise public and medical awareness about it.^[49][50]

The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx.^[6][8] Signs and symptoms may appear in as little as two days after exposure to the virus.^[6] These may include coughing, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, headache, and fever.^[3][4] People usually recover in seven to ten days,^[3] but some symptoms may last up to three weeks.^[7] Occasionally, those with other health problems may develop pneumonia.^[3]

Well over 200 virus strains are implicated in causing the common cold, with rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses and enteroviruses being the most common.^[14] 

Analysis of fat oxidation capacity during cardiopulmonary exercise testing indicates long-lasting metabolic disturbance in patients with Post-COVID-19 Syndrome