Written question asked by Darren Jones (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 January 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 January 2021. It was answered by Edward Argar (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 January 2021 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

ME/CFS: Research

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase biomedical research on the causes and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis in the UK.

Answer: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In 2020, the NIHR and the Medical Research Council, through UK Research and Innovation, came together to fund the world’s largest genome-wide association study of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), sometimes referred to as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). This £3.2 million study, ‘DecodeME’, will analyse samples from 20,000 people with ME/CFS to search for genetic differences that may indicate underlying causes or an increased risk of developing the condition. DecodeME is a partnership between biomedical scientists at the University of Edinburgh and ME/CFS charities and people with lived experience of ME/CFS. It is hoped that the outcomes of this study will aid the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.

Secondary information