Mapping illness

[Amw66]

I saw this on Twitter and wondered -
Given that ME may have environmental triggers has anyone mapped where people with ME lived when they started being ill ( i know that this will be difficult for gradual onset)
My interest is piqued as most of the mums i know are either rural ( potential pesticides) or in old industrial heartlands.

Does anyone feel this is worth an MEA survey?

 

[Amw66]

Sorry tweet

 

[Trish]

If you mean the type of environment ( rural, semi-rural, urban industrial, city centre, suburban...) rather than actual geographical location, you could experiment to see how feasible it is by setting up a poll on this forum.

 

[BruceInOz]

To be meaningful you would have to correct for population density, otherwise I just see it being a map of population density.

 

[Snow Leopard]

ME and CFS show up all over the world in similar prevalance, if there are any key environmental factors (besides infections), they seem ubiquitous.

 

[Mithriel]

We know that ME happens in epidemics and clusters and organophosphate poisoning in rural areas gives a syndrome similar to ME. Glandular fever is ubiquitous though most people never get ME from it. I don't think a map would tell us anything more.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Years ago, someone had an online map somewhere that people with ME/CFS could add themselves to. I don't remember who or where.