Renaming As an Opportunity

There an article at Nature on something that is almost certain to prove controversial. It is being proposed that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome be renamed “Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease” and its diagnostic criteria be revised:

The mysterious disease known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has long defied classification, as the millions of people who suffer from it show a wide variety of symptoms. Now a panel commissioned by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has produced what is sure to be an influential report on how the disease should be diagnosed. This new definition comes with a new moniker: systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID).

The report, released by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) on 10 February, says that the new name better reflects the key symptom of the disease — extreme exhaustion after any exertion. It argues that other symptoms, such as poor sleep and cognitive impairment, are secondary. But some experts are already challenging the name and revised diagnostic criteria.

IMO this is a good move and advocates should view the renaming as an opportunity rather than a threat. CFS is obviously a real condition but people with it are treated too frequently as malingerers. It may take them decades and a parade of physicians before they get what little treatment there is for the condition. If the new diagnostic criteria are clearer and more targeted, the renaming might be an advance.