About us

We would like to welcome you to the web-site of the Campaign for a National ME / CFS clinic in Ireland. As of Spring 2008, there is no ME / CFS clinic in Ireland, yet over 10,000 people suffer from ME / CFS in Ireland today. Many of these people are severely ill and bedridden, and many are confined to wheelchairs or housebound. The objective of our organisation is to get the Irish government to build a National ME / CFS Clinic in Ireland. We have extensively researched doctors, specialists and clinics who have successfully treated ME / CFS in other countries and researched what is best international practise for treating the illness. These scientific and medical findings and recommendations  would be the starting point for designing the structure and operation a National ME / CFS Clinic in Ireland.

Brief Description of the illness
ME / CFS is a serious debilitating physical illness. The scientific and medical evidence show that ME / CFS is a highly complex illness, involving multiple factors  -  a seriously weakened immune system similar in some respects to AIDS, numerous viral infections, mycoplasma infections, high toxin levels, defective mitochondria function and organic brain and nerve damage. These scientific findings have been confirmed by genetic studies of the illness completed in Summer 2005. Up to 16 abnormal genes have been identified so far, these genes correlate to the immune system, brain, neurological and mitochondria abnormalities found in CFS  ( Click here to view the genetic research paper ) . However, larger genetic studies already underway may identify more abnormal genes, possibly 50-100 abnormal genes. 

These infections and abnormalities cause a patient to become very exhausted and weak over time. CFS can be deadly, thousands of people around the world have died of CFS and health complications caused by CFS  -  see Memorial section. CFS bears a resemblance to Cancer and AIDS in the sense that many CFS patients have died of opportunistic infections due to a depleted immune system. Research also shows that CFS patients have serious heart and vascular abnormalities arising from CFS, making them highly susceptible to a sudden heart attack. New research shows that CFS patients have immune system abnormalities which put them at a high risk of getting certain types of Cancer. This is very worrying both for patients and doctors / healthcare systems as there are still high rates of Cancer, particularly in Ireland and other developed Western nations. These scientific and medical facts can be viewed in the Scientific Evidence Section of our web-site

On May 12 1995, testifying before a US Congressional briefing, AIDS specialist Mark Loveless told legislators that a CFS patient "feels every day significantly the same as an AIDS patient feels two months before death". Mr. Loveless supported his statement with data from research conducted at his own institution and morididity data provided by other CFS experts who had compared the two diseases (AIDS and CFS). There is also a high rate of suicide among CFS patients, this being brought about by frustration, desperation for some cure, social isolation, lack of support, constant pain, exhaustion and weakness, and financial hardships. 

Yet, there is no ME / CFS Clinic in Ireland, no agreed diagnostic protocols, no treatment protocols and no approved medicines for people with ME / CFS in Ireland today. ME / CFS patients are being left to suffer and in many cases die from their illness. This situation is unacceptable. It's time for action, many ME / CFS patients, carers and relatives have been lying around waiting for "miracle cures" for several years and decades, throwing money here and there, and they have been disappointed and will continue to be disappointed because they have been looking in the wrong direction. It's time for them to change their outlook and direction ; thousands of ME / CFS patients have recovered through very specialised and thorough medical support, and this web-site and campaign aims to enlighten patients, carers and others of this fact. We also aim to put the relevant facilities, technologies and medical drugs in place to facilitate full recoveries from ME / CFS in Ireland and elsewhere.

Medical Drugs & Treatments and Recoveries from ME / CFS
At present, the Irish Medicines Board and Irish Medical Council have no approved medicines for treating ME / CFS patients. Doctors often prescribe pain killers, tranquilizers and sleeping tablets for ME / CFS patients but these medicines are not approved by the Irish Medicines Board and doctors may be breaking legal and ethical guidelines in prescribing these medicines. The important point here is that no medical drugs have been approved by the Irish Medicines Board for treating ME / CFS. This is appalling considering the fact that many developed Western countries have approved medicines for treating ME / CFS, and in a number of cases there have been total recoveries from ME / CFS, most notably from the drug Ampligen.

Certain new drugs have been found to be very effective in the treatment of CFS in the USA, Canada, Mexico and Belgium. Most Irish doctors, the Irish Medical Council and the Irish Medicines Board have never heard about these new CFS drugs as their knowledge of such matters is 10-15 years out of date. This lack of knowledge means CFS patients are being deprived of treatments which could greatly improve their condition and bring about recovery in a majority of cases. To worsen this situation, certain so called "CFS experts" claim that there is no cure for ME / CFS. These claims are false and bogus. 

Doctors in the United States have had success in treating thousands of ME / CFS patients, and there are medical reports and research to back this up. In other words thousands of ME / CFS patients have recovered through proper and thorough medical support. Have you heard about the recoveries from ME / CFS in the following clinics:
 -  the Cheney Clinic in the USA
-  the Hunter Hopkins Center in the USA 
-  the De Meirleir Clinic in Belgium
-  the Cologne clinic run by Dr. Gorter in Germany
-  Dr. Basant Puri's clinic in Hammersmith Hospital in England
-  Breakspear Hospital in England
-  Professor Jose Montoya's clinic in Stanford University, California
-  Dr. CL Jadin and Dr Peter Tarbleton in South Africa

Have you read the book ' Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Lyme disease  (2nd Edition) '  by Burton Goldberg and Larry Trivieri  which gives an account of how several doctors successfully treated hundreds of ME / CFS patients in the USA ?  

Thousands of ME / CFS patients have recovered as a result of the treatments received at the Cheney Clinic and the other medical clinics and doctor's practises mentioned above. These ME / CFS patients decided to take responsibility for their own health and pursue a course of treatment which would enable them to recover from ME / CFS. Today these people have recovered from the illness and are back working and leading normal healthy lives. They did not waste their money on dubious "CFS research projects" which have failed to investigate the root causes of ME / CFS. As of 2006, these  "CFS research projects" have failed to determine the cause of the illness, failed to determine the perpetuating factors of the illness, failed to determine the biological and molecular dynamics of the illness, failed to develop an international diagnostic protocol, and failed to develop international treatment protocols. They have also failed to investigate why thousands of patients have recovered from ME / CFS through intensive medical treatments and why these treatments work. Since 1990, several hundred million euros have been wasted by government and private researchers investigating the secondary symptoms of ME / CFS while ignoring the root causes of the illness. These researchers have no developed no prioritisation process for investigating the root causes of ME / CFS.  Research has been unstructured, chaotic and disorganised, and wasteful of time and money. As a result, CFS research continues to stagnate. The appalling state of CFS research means that a "miracle cure" or "miracle drug" which will magically cure all cases of ME / CFS is at least 15 - 20 years away or possibly even longer ; most patients cannot wait this long and why should they have to wait when there are treatments available today which can bring about recovery from ME / CFS.  Click here to view the disastrous state of CFS research.

The only solution for ME / CFS patients in Ireland is to lobby for and obtain a national ME / CFS clinic which would use the successful diagnostic methods and treatments applied in the Cheney Clinic and other similar clinics and doctor's practises. This would empower ME / CFS patients to take responsibility for their own health and pursue a course of treatment which would enable them to recover from ME / CFS. This is something which is real, tangible and achievable in the present.

Our objectives are:
(i)  Lobby the Irish government, the Department of Health and the HSE to finance the building and operation of a National ME / CFS clinic in Ireland. This Clinic would use the diagnostic and treatment protocols used in the most successful ME / CFS Clinics such as the Cheney Clinic in the USA where thousands of patients have recovered from ME / CFS.

(ii) Lobby private foundations, wealthy philanthropists and business people to (a) finance our campaign for an ME / CFS Clinic  (b) make a financial contribution towards the site acquisition costs and building development costs of a National ME / CFS  Clinic. This would help get things moving and encourage the Irish government to become involved. Time is of the essence here as there are thousands of patients enduring terrible suffering and many are dying of complications caused by the illness - see Memorial section.

(iii) Lobby the Irish government, the Department of Health and the Irish Medicines Board to designate certain medical drugs  for the treatment of ME / CFS. These include Ampligen, Immunovir, Human Leukocyte Elastase inhibitors, MG132, Acclydine Therapy, Klonopin (generic: clonazepam), Olive Leaf extract (anti-viral), VegEPA and Naltrexone. These medical drugs have been proven to be very effective in treating ME / CFS in the USA, Canada, Britain, Belgium, and Mexico. Research articles have been provided on this web-site. This would empower Irish medical doctors to start treating the illness and bring about significant improvements in the symptoms and lives of ME / CFS patients.

(iv) Build up a national network of patients, carers and others to achieve the above objectives  ie. a National ME / CFS Clinic and the introduction of certain medical drugs into Ireland. This involves public meetings in several Irish towns and cities once a month and accompanying planning. Work activity by volunteers every week to achieve our objectives. You can join today by clicking here.

(v) Liaise with top CFS doctors, experts and researchers from around the world and learn more about their diagnostic and treatment protocols for ME / CFS, and how they operate successful ME / CFS clinics. 

(vi) Continuously gather and collate research into ME / CFS and provide it on the web-site for the benefit of all ME / CFS patients in Ireland and abroad.

Click here to view the reasons and logic for setting up a National ME / CFS Clinic in Ireland ?