People with chronic fatigue syndrome have faced enormous stigma from a disease that cannot be seen and that many have not believed is real. Last week, a 15-member panel of the Institute of Medicine issued a report stating that chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease that should not be dismissed as mere tiredness. They renamed it systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID). The panel report said that SEID more accurately represents the disease than "chronic fatigue syndrome" or "myalgic encephalomyelitis," which has long been used to describe the disease in Canada and the UK, as well as other countries.

SEID is believed to affect between 860,000 and 2.5 million Americans and can cause a person to become housebound or bedridden. Because there is no specific test for the disease and because the symptoms cannot be seen, patients have been dismissed as complainers whose symptoms are psychological, not physical. In the report, the panel said that the condition is real and tells health care providers that, "It is not appropriate to dismiss these patients by saying 'I am chronically fatigued, too.' "

SEID's core symptoms include:

• Profound fatigue that lasts at least six months
• Complete exhaustion following even minor physical or mental exertion (post-exertional malaise or "crashing")
• Waking from sleep unrefreshed
• Upon standing, cognitive impairment ("brain fog") or a worsening of symptoms

The Institute of Medicine has issued a four-page brief on the 235-page report: Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness (PDF).