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by Andy
Kates
The News
Lauren Waddle was
full of life and energy as a child and could hardly sit
still.
She was always on
the go and loved school - particularly chemistry
lessons - dreaming of one day becoming a top scientist.
At the age of 12
she was struck down by glandular fever, a non-life
threatening illness which her parents thought she would
soon shake off.
But Lauren never
did recover and weeks in bed turned to months.
More than a year
and a half later the youngster was diagnosed as
suffering from Myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME as it's
commonly known.
Now her mother
has set up a support group to help other families
affected by the illness.
For the last
eight years Lauren has spent most of her life in bed,
struggling to complete her GCSEs and missing most of her
teenage years.
Now, aged 19, she
can barely stand up or bath herself.
Her deteriorating
health has been heartbreaking for parents Sue and Nigel
Waddle, of Claremont Gardens, Purbrook.
But what has
frustrated them more is that almost no treatment or
therapy is available to ME sufferers and no government
funding has gone into research.
Mrs Waddle, 48,
said: "My daughter has lost all that youthful energy.
Diagnosis
ME can affect people of any age. However it's
most common between the ages of 25 and 45.
It's estimated that about 240, 00 people in the
UK have ME, with women affected more often than
men.
To be diagnosed with ME someone must have severe
chronic fatigue for at least six months with no
other medical condition identified as the cause.
About 25 per cent of people with ME are severely
affected - confined to house or bed and unable
to look after themselves
She was always running and skipping around, a real
bright spark.
But all that has
gone now.
Doctors said it
was just stress at first but I know it's much more than
that. It's been unbearable to see her deteriorate over
the years."
Doctors do not
know exactly what causes ME and there is no specific
treatment.
Common symptoms
include muscle and joint pain, nausea, headaches, chest
pain, dizziness and severely disturbed sleep patterns.
Mrs Waddle has
now set up her own sufferers' group, Invest in ME, which
aims to raise cash for organisations researching the
condition.
She has written
to more than 200 sufferers across Hampshire asking for
support and has had scores of letters from people across
the UK and even abroad.
Mrs Waddle said: "There is scepticism about ME from
people who think it's just a psychological problem.
Sufferers will tell you that it's not a problem in the
head, it's a physical condition.
That's why we're baffled when the government refuses to
plough money into research, so we're doing it
ourselves."
andy.kates@thenews.co.uk |
