The molecular biology of needing a bit more nookie

Came across an interesting and amusing article by an Australian pathologist, Dr Michael Barrett, which was actually an update on RNaseL research. It also had some good comments on what many patients refer to as the dreaded 'F word': fatigue.

In case you were wondering, the title of his article - The Molecular Biology of Needing a Bit More Nookie - comes from the true story of a doctor who advises an ME/CFS patient:

..."it's all in your head", and on three occasions [told] her "you are not getting enough nookie".

Unfortunately this type of stuff from doctors isn't unusual. I've had my fair share of similarly outrageous remarks - every ME/CFS patient has. But that's another story.

Onwards to the 'F word':

To name a disease after one of its most subjective symptoms is obviously ridiculous. The term fatigue may equally apply to a nasty hangover, mere laziness, or Monday morning-itis. I remember a church notice board near Sydney University back in 1958 with the message, "It takes a truly honest person to know whether he is really tired or just plain lazy." C.S. Lewis in his book 'The Problem of Pain' suggests that some pain may even be mildly pleasurable, such as the feeling of fatigue and soreness after a long walk in the country. The problem with fatigue is that it is neither specific, definable, or easily scientifically measurable. Fatigue is both a normal and pathological feature of everyday life. Every normal person gets fatigued. Fatigue is a common feature of much major psychiatric illness and major medical disease. But, for the moment we are stuck with this hopelessly inadequate name even though it trivialises the clinical severity of the illness and ignores the fact that CFS mainly involves the central nervous system (CNS)...

Dr Michael B. Barratt