Rainbow at shoreline

The Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association, a 501(c)3 founded in 1985, exists to meet the needs of patients with ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or FM (Fibromyalgia), their families and loved ones. The Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association works to educate health-care providers and the general public regarding these severely-disabling physical illnesses. We also support patients and their families and advocate for more effective treatment and research.

We recommend this excellent research review on the role of reactivated viral and bacterial infections in the CFS/ME disease process. Dr.Kent Holtorf, MD, in an article for ProHealth, reviews 20 years of medical research pointing to the chronic reactivation of herpes viruses (EBV, CMV, HHV-6) and bacteria (mycoplasma, chlamydia pneumoniae, and Lyme disease), in ME/CFS and FM.

He also explains why the use of normal antibody tests, IgG and IgM, which normally detect the presence of a new and active infections do not identify chronic, reactivated infections in these illnesses. Moreover, these reactivated infections do not normally occur in the blood and sera, but in the cellular tissue (nerves, brain and white blood cells)—another factor making them hard to detect. He also identifies a number of markers that may indicate an underlying chronic infection in ME/CFS. Read the article.

Notice about names

The Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association would like to clarify the use of the various acronyms for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Chronic Fatigue & Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and  Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) on this site. When we generate our own articles on the illness, we will refer to it as ME/CFS, the term now generally used in the United States. When we are reporting on someone else’s report, we will use the term they use. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies, including the CDC, are currently using ME/CFS. 

Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association changed its name in July, 2018, to reflect this consensus.