May 12th: International CFS / M.E. Awareness Day
A few of the members of this community are nurses, or are studying in that area. It is good to have you here, for your willingness to help others in need. You may know that this past week has been National Nurses Week!...
National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale's birthday. These permanent dates enhance planning and position National Nurses Week as an established recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be celebrated annually. Today, May 12, is National Nurses Day! This is in honour of Florence Nightingale, ("The Lady with the Lamp"), said to be the originator of the modern nursing profession. She was also a statistician and a relentless social welfare advocate.
(Hit each pic for more about Florence Nightingale!)
Please hit my TAGS to read more about Florence Nightingale / Nurses / or the great nurse, Joyce Riley, RIP.
15 Heroic Facts About Florence Nightingale
The 1985 Movie.
Florence Nightingale Museum - Official Site
International CFS / ME Awareness Day
ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
International ME/CFS Awareness Day May 12!
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, (M.E.), especially in Britain. You can download and print up this information about M.E. ...
1
ME Association Factsheet
What you need to know about M.E
M.E. (myalgic encephalopathy or encephalomyelitis) is a complex multisystem
disease with a wide range of disabling symptoms.
l
M.E. is classified by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as a neurological
disease. WHO classification is recognised by
the Department of Health, the Medical
Research Council and NICE (National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence).
l
M.E. is estimated to affect around 0.2-0.4%
of the population (c.250,000 people in the
UK) - including children and adolescents.
l
M.E. is a devastating disease with no
established biomarker. Significant
abnormalities in the central nervous system,
immune system, endocrine (hormone
producing) system, and in muscle (causing
energy metabolism impairment), have all
been found to be involved in the disease
process.
l
M.E. affects all social classes and ethnic
groups.
l
M.E. is the commonest cause of long term
sickness absence from school.
l
M.E. can affect more than one family
member - suggesting that genetic factors
may be involved in predisposing people
to develop the disease when a triggering
event occurs.
l
M.E. has been estimated to cost the UK
economy £3.3bn each year
(see page 2).
l
M.E. can cause greater functional
impairment than many other serious medical
conditions, including multiple sclerosis and
cancer.
l
M.E. is not a minor ailment and there is a
wide spectrum of severity. Around 25%
of people are severely affected - being
house-bound, or bed-bound, and often
requiring a wheelchair if they can mobilise -
at various stages during the illness.
l
M.E. can affect some people very severely,
leading to atypical seizures, speech and
swallowing difficulties and extreme
intolerance to light and sound. These people
are often bedbound for most or all of the
time, requiring continuous 24-hour care and
they may need to be tube-fed.
l
M.E. in most cases can be linked to a
previous viral infection - from which people
do not seem to have recovered. In some
cases, M.E. can follow a vaccination, or other
known triggering event.
l
M.E. is generally regarded as a fluctuating
condition - meaning that the symptoms
can vary in form and intensity throughout
the day, from day to day, and week to week -
making it very unpredictable.
l
M.E. is diagnosed following careful
assessment of clinical history, physical
examination, exclusion of other possible
causes of symptoms and the application of
diagnostic criteria. There are currently no
blood or other diagnostic tests available.
l
M.E. has a unique and defining clinical
feature known as post-exertional malaise -
a delayed exacerbation of symptoms that
can follow even minor physical or mental
exertion.
The ME Association, 7 Apollo Office Court, Radclive Road, Gawcott, Bucks MK18 4DF
admin@meassociation.org.uk or phone 01280 818 964
Read and/or download more info here.
ME Awareness Week Focus on Employment and Education - Free leaflets for you to download!
You can read my recent posts on CFS Awareness Day, and on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome itself. Several documentaries, etc., are offered there.
That is not all that is special about this past week. May 10 was World Lupus Day. Lupus is a terrible and tragic chronic illness with many similarities to CFS / M.E. I apparently lost a great LJ friend to lupus, (xhollydaysx). You can go to this DailyMail article and read a little of what people go through, suffering from Lupus:
What is lupus? Three women describe living with a disease that constantly attacks the entire body - even though they may look healthy to everyone else.
I would be remiss should I not mention that tomorrow, of course, is Mother's Day, here in the USA. Maybe we can expand this day to recognise and honour the mothering and healing powers in ourselves and our society in general. On that note, I leave you with THIS article, on the power of powerful females...
Meet the ‘Difficult’ Women Who Wrote Their Own Rules
National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale's birthday. These permanent dates enhance planning and position National Nurses Week as an established recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be celebrated annually. Today, May 12, is National Nurses Day! This is in honour of Florence Nightingale, ("The Lady with the Lamp"), said to be the originator of the modern nursing profession. She was also a statistician and a relentless social welfare advocate.
(Hit each pic for more about Florence Nightingale!)
Please hit my TAGS to read more about Florence Nightingale / Nurses / or the great nurse, Joyce Riley, RIP.
15 Heroic Facts About Florence Nightingale
The 1985 Movie.
Florence Nightingale Museum - Official Site
International CFS / ME Awareness Day
ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
International ME/CFS Awareness Day May 12!
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, (M.E.), especially in Britain. You can download and print up this information about M.E. ...
1
ME Association Factsheet
What you need to know about M.E
M.E. (myalgic encephalopathy or encephalomyelitis) is a complex multisystem
disease with a wide range of disabling symptoms.
l
M.E. is classified by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as a neurological
disease. WHO classification is recognised by
the Department of Health, the Medical
Research Council and NICE (National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence).
l
M.E. is estimated to affect around 0.2-0.4%
of the population (c.250,000 people in the
UK) - including children and adolescents.
l
M.E. is a devastating disease with no
established biomarker. Significant
abnormalities in the central nervous system,
immune system, endocrine (hormone
producing) system, and in muscle (causing
energy metabolism impairment), have all
been found to be involved in the disease
process.
l
M.E. affects all social classes and ethnic
groups.
l
M.E. is the commonest cause of long term
sickness absence from school.
l
M.E. can affect more than one family
member - suggesting that genetic factors
may be involved in predisposing people
to develop the disease when a triggering
event occurs.
l
M.E. has been estimated to cost the UK
economy £3.3bn each year
(see page 2).
l
M.E. can cause greater functional
impairment than many other serious medical
conditions, including multiple sclerosis and
cancer.
l
M.E. is not a minor ailment and there is a
wide spectrum of severity. Around 25%
of people are severely affected - being
house-bound, or bed-bound, and often
requiring a wheelchair if they can mobilise -
at various stages during the illness.
l
M.E. can affect some people very severely,
leading to atypical seizures, speech and
swallowing difficulties and extreme
intolerance to light and sound. These people
are often bedbound for most or all of the
time, requiring continuous 24-hour care and
they may need to be tube-fed.
l
M.E. in most cases can be linked to a
previous viral infection - from which people
do not seem to have recovered. In some
cases, M.E. can follow a vaccination, or other
known triggering event.
l
M.E. is generally regarded as a fluctuating
condition - meaning that the symptoms
can vary in form and intensity throughout
the day, from day to day, and week to week -
making it very unpredictable.
l
M.E. is diagnosed following careful
assessment of clinical history, physical
examination, exclusion of other possible
causes of symptoms and the application of
diagnostic criteria. There are currently no
blood or other diagnostic tests available.
l
M.E. has a unique and defining clinical
feature known as post-exertional malaise -
a delayed exacerbation of symptoms that
can follow even minor physical or mental
exertion.
The ME Association, 7 Apollo Office Court, Radclive Road, Gawcott, Bucks MK18 4DF
admin@meassociation.org.uk or phone 01280 818 964
Read and/or download more info here.
ME Awareness Week Focus on Employment and Education - Free leaflets for you to download!
You can read my recent posts on CFS Awareness Day, and on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome itself. Several documentaries, etc., are offered there.
That is not all that is special about this past week. May 10 was World Lupus Day. Lupus is a terrible and tragic chronic illness with many similarities to CFS / M.E. I apparently lost a great LJ friend to lupus, (xhollydaysx). You can go to this DailyMail article and read a little of what people go through, suffering from Lupus:
What is lupus? Three women describe living with a disease that constantly attacks the entire body - even though they may look healthy to everyone else.
I would be remiss should I not mention that tomorrow, of course, is Mother's Day, here in the USA. Maybe we can expand this day to recognise and honour the mothering and healing powers in ourselves and our society in general. On that note, I leave you with THIS article, on the power of powerful females...
Meet the ‘Difficult’ Women Who Wrote Their Own Rules