Chronic fatigue syndrome has been applied as a description of a set of fatigue like conditions for several decades. However, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel suggests a redefinition. Along with new diagnostic criteria, the experts offer a new name: systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID).
Seeking to explain the reasoning behind this, Ellen Wright Clayton of Vanderbilt University Medical Center said in a statement: “This name captures a central characteristic of the disease: the fact that exertion of any sort—physical, cognitive, or emotional—can adversely affect patients in many organ systems and in many aspects of their lives.”
The new diagnostic criteria includes an impairment in participating in normal activities for at least six months; unrefreshing sleep; “post-exertional malaise”; and cognitive impairments or a worsening of symptoms that can be relieved by lying down, according to Nature News.
The news has not gone down well with everyone; in particular the changes are not universally welcomed by the chronic fatigue community. A physician who treats patients with the condition, Derek Enlander, told Nature News he worries that the diagnostic criteria are too broad.
Furthermore, Al Jazeera America points out that in 2013, 50 researchers and clinicians familiar with chronic fatigue penned a letter opposing the IOM’s project and voicing their support for an existing diagnostic, the Canadian Consensus Criteria. Al Jazeera also reported: “The [IOM] report’s million-dollar price tag can seem quite high if you consider that annual federal funding for [chronic fatigue syndrome] is about $5 million.”
