1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel-Hamas warEuropean UnionChina
Health

Mysterious Illness

April 1, 2022

ME/CFS, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is a severe neuroimmunological disease. Not much is known about the disease, and there is virtually no treatment.

https://p.dw.com/p/48o8w
Fit und Gesund die Post-COVID Fatigue
Image: ZDF

However, recent studies show that the effects of chronic post-Covid-19 syndrome greatly resemble ME/CFS.

Sendung: Dokumentation „Die rätselhafte Krankheit – Leben mit ME/CFS"
Image: New Docs

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or ME/CFS, is a devastating disease. It often leads to a high degree of physical disability. Some 17-24 million people are affected by ME/CFS worldwide, with women affected more often than men. 

Sendung: Dokumentation „Die rätselhafte Krankheit – Leben mit ME/CFS"
Image: New Docs

Despite this large number of sufferers, ME/CFS is relatively unknown to both the general public and physicians. Even though it was included in the International Classification of Neurological Diseases by the World Health Organization as early as 1969, research into the disease is still in its infancy. Currently, there are no drugs or therapies available to treat the disease at its root. 

Those affected are usually labeled as depressed or mentally ill. But the new virus Sars-CoV-2, which has infected more than 100 million people worldwide so far, makes the disease particularly relevant. Some people infected with Covid-19 still suffer from long-term effects weeks and months later — and their symptoms look a lot like those of ME/CFS sufferers.

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

THU 07.04.2022 – 01:15 UTC
THU 07.04.2022 – 04:15 UTC
THU 07.04.2022 – 18:15 UTC
FRI 08.04.2022 – 09:15 UTC
SAT 09.04.2022 – 19:15 UTC
SUN 10.04.2022 – 02:15 UTC
SUN 10.04.2022 – 15:15 UTC

Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3
Delhi UTC +5,5 I Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4

DW Deutsch+

FRI 08.04.2022 – 09:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3