AROUND 2,500 people in York and North Yorkshire are thought to suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), one of the world’s most misunderstood and debilitating diseases.

CFS ravages patients who suffer from prolonged fatigue even after the slightest activity. The worst-off are in pain, which is some cases can be unbearable. Nationally, some 33,000 children are also affected.

The particular biological and biomedical mechanisms that cause increased pain in CFS/ME sufferers are unknown.

The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Foundation, a registered UK charity, has agreed to fund a three-year study into the causes of heightened pain. The research will examine whether such pain is primarily due to problems in the muscles themselves or whether it is more due to how the brain and spinal cord process pain.

We are asking for support to help fund this clinically important research.

You can donate through our website, cfsrf.org.uk, or by post to me at the address below.

Clive Kerfoot, CFSRF Administrator, CFS Research Foundation, The Briars, Sarratt, Herts. WD3 6AU.