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.
Beginning on October 1, 2022, your doctor(s) will be able to place the diagnosis (dx) code G93.32 into your medical record. Thus, after eleven years of advocacy, the United States will add a code for the term ME/CFS and has moved the term CFS to the neurological chapter where the World Health Organization placed it. These changes make things just a bit easier for persons with ME and our physicians.
Congressmen Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts) and Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) visited with researchers studying ME/CFS (myaglic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) and Long Covid (LC) at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts on June 1, 2022.
This exciting visit was organized by the Selin Lab at UMass and ME advocate Rivka Solomon, in conjunction with the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association. Fourteen people attended this private meeting, both virtually and in-person.
"A whole-person health approach to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Lessons for Post-COVID conditions”
Whole-person health is the term the NIH uses for Integrative medicine approaches.
Presented by Maria Vera Nunez, M.D.
Sunday, June 19, 2022, 4 p.m. ET
This program was presented jointly with the New Jersey ME/CFS Association.
Dr. Maria Vera Nunez has been specializing in the treatment of people living with ME/CFS for more than 20 years, having originally worked with Dr. Nancy Klimas at Nova Southeastern University’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine for 7 years. Dr. Vera uses a whole-person health approach to evaluate patients with chronic, multi-system conditions, including ME/CFS and Long COVID. She uses advanced functional medicine testing to personalize treatments. She strives to create a partnership with her patients, considering their preferences and empowering them to acquire skills to support their healing process.
Dr. Vera is a Board-certified Internal Medicine and Integrative Medicine physician, a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, and has a Master of Science degree in Medical Informatics. She was an Assistant Professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, a national referral center for ME/CFS cases, for 7 years. Currently, she is an attending physician at the Whole Psychiatry and Brain Recovery Center in Maryland and a Research Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.
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.