20 August 2008
PRESS RELEASE
City to Surf: A 24 Year Journey To City Beach
24 years after developing Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known under the umbrella term Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), 9 of those years spent bed- and house-bound with the severest form of the disease, former military pilot Colin Neathercoat (48) will be running the 12 Km City to Surf fun run on Sunday hoping to complete the course in under an hour.
“Exercise of any kind has always aggravated my disease and caused havoc with my health,” said Colin. “It’s cost me two careers –first as a military pilot and more recently as a marketing executive. I’m still a little nervous every time I run but am now confident that with recent advances in understanding and treatment of ME/CFS I at last have it beaten.”
Patron of the ME/CFS Society of WA and a highly regarded specialist in the treatment and management of the disease since 1983, Dr. Zeke Pervan said, “Colin’s remarkable recovery after such a severe and prolonged episode of ME/CFS is a testimony to growing awareness and better understanding of this potentially devastating disease.”
It is estimated by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians that there are approximately 120,000 Australians affected by ME/CFS, 8,000 in Western Australia alone -an incidence far greater than AIDS, lung or breast cancer. Of these it is believed that more than 30,000 are so severely disabled by ME/CFS that they are unable to carry out even basic personal tasks requiring full-time care and management.
ME/CFS is characterized by incapacitating exhaustion or fatigue, severe muscle and joint pains, digestive problems and food intolerance, intractable headaches, dizziness and problems with memory and cognitive functioning. A hallmark of the disease is abnormal and disabling post-exertional malaise or exhaustion brought on by even trivial activities.
Research by the US Centre for Disease Control indicates that only about 10% of those affected ever fully recover from the disease. The disease is known to affect people of all ethnic and socio-economic groups and classes including children as young as 5 years old.
For more information contact:
Colin Neathercoat
President, ME/CFS Society of WA
0412 076622 Dr Zeke Pervan
Patron, ME/CFS Society of WA
0439 092910
or visit www.mecfswa.org.au