CFIDS News
Keeping you up-to-date on recent events across the nation and around the world

Peterson carries flag, spreads CFIDS message
Speedskater Amy Peterson, a person with CFIDS, was elected by her fellow athletes to carry the American flag at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, in February.

“This is overwhelming,” said Peterson, 29, who has battled CFIDS for more than five years. “To carry the American flag is beyond anything I could have imagined. They haven’t started yet and they’re already the best Games ever for me.”

The Utah Olympics were Peterson’s fifth and last. She has won three medals in her previous appearances, and was scheduled to race in three events this time.

Peterson appeared on NBC’s Today show before the opening ceremonies. She spoke openly of how CFIDS affected her training — saying that she was so exhausted in the two months before the Olympics that she wasn’t sure she would qualify to race.

“There have been a lot of days when I just said, ‘I’ve had enough,’” she stated. “And then I knew I would have regretted it. I never thought I would be carrying the flag.”

UK Report: CFIDS real
Doctors in the United Kingdom must now recognize CFIDS as a valid chronic illness, after a government advisory group ruled it to be a genuine condition.

A working group appointed by the country’s chief medical officer issued its findings last fall. The report calls for the establishment of a national research program on CFIDS, which in the UK is known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

“This has been a disease in the wilderness,” said Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer. “From today all that changes. This is a real condition, affecting real people.”

The working group’s report stirred controversy, especially with regard to treatment options. Patient representatives on the panel felt that it placed too much emphasis on graded exercise therapy as a treatment. Some doctors, on the other hand, felt that not enough attention was paid to psychological and social treatments. Four clinicians and two patient representatives declined to endorse the final report.

“Seabiscuit” author scores Turf award
Author Laura Hillenbrand has won the Turf Publicists of America’s annual Big Sport of Turfdom award for her best-selling book, “Seabiscuit: An American Legend.” Hillenbrand, a person with CFIDS, was scheduled to receive the prize on Feb. 18.

The award is given to a person whose “cooperation with the media enhances coverage of and brings favorable attention to racing.”

Hillenbrand spent four years researching and writing “Seabiscuit,” the tale of a Depression-era racehorse and his underdog handlers. “Seabiscuit” also has been named one of five finalists for the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Prize for general nonfiction.

“I Remember Me” opens to widespread acclaim
Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder’s documentary, “I Remember Me” has made its theater debut in New York City, Chicago and Miami. The film chronicles Snyder’s battle with CFIDS, and has won several awards, including the Best Documentary prize at the Denver Film Festival in 2000.

“I Remember Me” won praise from a number of critics — including Roger Ebert — before and during its opening runs. After watching the film, Ebert wrote, “I now believe in chronic fatigue syndrome” in his review in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Snyder’s film is slated for brief releases in San Francisco on March 3 and 4 at the Red Vic; in Flint, Mich. from March 15–17 at the Flint Institute of Art; and in Montpelier, Vt. on March 27 and 28 at the Savoy Theater.