Origin of the name M.E.

As a result of investigations from the 1950s to the present, particularly in Canada, European countries, Australia and New Zealand, the illness in these countries became known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME) as well as benign epidemic neuromyasthenia, neuromyasthenia, or post-viral fatigue syndrome.

The first article attempting to clarify the various outbreaks was published in the Lancet in 1956 and was further discussed in an article in the American Journal of Medicine in 1959. This line of research came from observant clinicians, including the pioneer, Dr. Melvin Ramsay, who understood the development and proliferation of a coherent disease syndrome.

Hence, the definition of the illness and its name were more directly connected to the clear physical nature of the illness. In 1988, Ramsay stated, "ME is an endemic illness which is subject to periodic epidemics."

In 1994, Dr. Dowsett, a colleague of Ramsay in Britain, developed the London Criteria for ME, which was a summation of the extensive previous work.