English language AFAIK - As far as I know AFAIR - As far as I remember ASAP - As soon as possible ATM - At the moment BTW – By the way ETA - Edited to add FFS - For f*'s sake FTFY - Fixed that for you FWIW - For what it's worth FYI - For your information GBP - British pound IANAL - I am not a lawyer ICYMI - In case you missed it IIRC - If I Recall Correctly IMO – In my opinion (IMHO - In my humble opinion) IANAD - I am not a doctor LMAO - Laughing my arse (ass) off LOL - Laughing out loud MIA - Missing in action (someone not seen recently) OMG – Oh my God OP - Original poster OTOH - On the other hand PR - Public relations Re: - Regarding RL - Real life (off forum) ROFL - Rolls on floor laughing TBH – To be honest TIA - Thanks in advance TLDR - Too long, didn't read TMI - Too much information TY - Thank you UKP - UK pound USD -US dollar WTF - What the f* Medical terms (scientific) AA - Amino Acid ADP - Adenosine diphosphate AMP - Adenosine monophosphate ANN - Artificial Neural Network ATP - Adenosine triphosphate BCAA - Branched Chain Amino Acid CMV - Cytomegalovirus CNS - Central Nervous System CPET - Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test Cpn - Chlamydia Pneumoniae CRP - C-Reactive Protein CSF - Cerebrospinal Fluid CT - Computerised tomography (scan) EBV - Epstein-Barr Virus EEG - Ectroencephalography EFA - Essential Fatty Acids EMG - Electromyography ERV - Endogenous retrovirus ESR - Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate GC - Gas Chromatography GcMAF - Gc Macrophage Activating Factor H2S- Hydrogen Sulfide HAART - Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy HCT - Hematocrit HERX - herxheimer reaction HERV - Human endogenous retrovirus HHV-6 - Human Herpes Virus 6 HIV - Human immunodeficiency virus HPA - Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal HRV - Heart Rate Variability HR - Heart Rate IDDM - Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus = diabetes type 1 IgG - Immunoglobulin G IVig - Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy IGM - Immunoglobulin M LDH - Lactate dehydrogenase LDN - Low Dose Naltrexone miRNA - MicroRNA MRI - Magnetic resonance imaging (scan) MSM - methylsulfonylmethane MVA - multivariate data analysis NIDDM - Non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus = diabetes type 2 NKC - Natural Killer Cells NO - Nitric Oxide NT - Neural Therapy PCR - Polymerase Chain Reaction PDH - Pyruvate dehydrogenase PDHK - Pyruvatedehydrogenase kinase PEM - Post-exertional Malaise PET scan - Positron emission tomography RAL - Raltegravir RBC - Red blood cell SIBO - Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth SNP - Single Nucleotide Polymorphism START - Stress Test Activated Reversible Tachycardia Th17 - T helper 17 (Th17) cells XAND - x-associated neuro-immune disease XMRV - xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus Medical terms (diagnosis and health care system) AIDS - Acquired immune deficiency syndrome EI - Environmental Illness CAM - Complementary and Alternative Medicine CCC - Canadian Consensus Criteria. CCD - Canadian Consensus Definition or Document CFIDS - Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome EDS - Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ER - Emergency Room FM - Fibromyalgia GF - Glandular fever GP - General Practitioner GWI - Gulf War Illness IBS - Irritable bowel syndrome IBS(C) - IBS with Constipation IBS(D) - IBS with Diarrhoea ICC - International Consensus Criteria JHS - joint hypermobility syndrome MCAS - Mast Cell Activation Syndrome MCS - Multi-Chemical Sensitivity ME - Myalgic Encephalomyelitis MS - Multiple Sclerosis NMH - neurally mediated hypotension NP - Nurse Practitioner OI - Orthostatic Intolerance OT - Occupational therapist PCP - Primary Care Physician POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome PVFS -- Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome RA - Rheumatoid Arthritis SEID - Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease RLS - Restless Leg Syndrome Psychiatric terms ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy APT - Adaptative Pacing Therapy BDD - Bodily distress disorder BPS - Biopsychosocial CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy DSM - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders FD - Functional disorder FND - Functional Neurological Disorder GET - Graded Exercise Therapy LP - Lightning Process MDD - Major Depressive Disorder MUS - medically unexplained symptoms MUPS - medically unexplained physical symptoms NLP - Neuro-linguistic programming OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder SSRI - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (class of antidepressants) Research and trials CFA - Confirmatory factor analysis EFA - Exploratory factor analysis GWAS - Genome-wide association study LTFU - Long term follow-up MCID - Minimal important clinical differences PI - Principal investigator(s) RCT - Randomised controlled trial TMG - Trial management committee TSG - Trial steering committee Institutions, charitie and ME organisations AfME - Action for ME (UK charity) BACME - British Association for CFS/ME BPS - British Psychological Society CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA) CFSAC - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (USA) CMRC - CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative (UK) DWP - Department of Work and Pensions (UK Government Department) EMA - European Medicines Agency EMEC - European ME Coalition ESA - Employment and Support Allowance (UK Social Securiy) FDA - Food and Drug Administration (USA) FOI - Freedom Of Information HRA - Health Research Authority (NHS/UK) IAPT - Improving access to psychological therapies (UK government initiative) ICO - Information Commissioner.s office (UK Data Protection and Freedom Of Information) ICD - International Classification of Diseases (WHO) IOM - Institute Of Medicine (USA) (now NAM) MEA - ME Association (UK charity) MRC - Medical Research Council (UK) NAM - National Academy of Medicine (USA - formerly IOM) NHS - National Health Service (UK) NICE -National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK) NIH - National Institute of Health (USA) NINDS - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (USA) OMI - Open Medicine Institute (USA) OMF - Open Medicine Foundation (USA) PACE trial - Pacing, graded Activity, and Cognitive behaviour therapy; a randomised Evaluation PIP - Personal Independence Payment (UK Social Security) PR - Phoenix Rising QMUL – Queen Mary University of London RSM - Royal Society of Medicine (UK) S4ME - Science for ME SSDI - Social Security Disability Insurance (US) SMC - Science Media Center SMCI - Solve ME/CFS Initiative (formerly CAA - CFIDS Association of America) WHO - World Health Organization WPI - Whittemore Peterson Institute (USA) Miscellaneous PwME - People with ME TATT - Tired all the Time Time zones UT - Universal time, used as internet time, broadly equivalent to GMT GMT - Greenwich mean time (UK) BST - British summer time (UK daylight saving) Technical CMY/K - Cyan magental yellow/black CSS - Cascading style sheets (used with HTML) gTLD - Geographic TLD e.g. .uk, .us, .nl HTML - Hyper text mark-up language (code for web pages) RGB - Red green blue TLD - Top level domain e.g. .com, .org
