Melvin Ramsay

Andrew Melvin Ramsay (1901–1990) was a British physician, who is known for his research and advocacy on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a chronic disease causing muscle weakness and cognitive dysfunction.

Ramsay worked as a consultant at the Royal Free Hospital in London during a mysterious 1955 disease outbreak of what later became known as ME.

His duties included the education of nurses and medical undergraduates on the practical aspects of managing infectious diseases.

[1] By 1939, he attained an MD degree, again from Aberdeen, based on a thesis investigating findings in 1205 cases of puerperal sepsis, a type of infection that can occur after miscarriage or birth.

[6]: 28 Ramsay became deeply upset by the absence of empathy extended to individuals enduring long-term suffering from ME, and advocated for them for the rest of his life.

[10] In 1986 he published the first case definition of ME in his book Postviral Fatigue Syndrome: The Saga of Royal Free Disease.

[11] In a second edition of the same book (now renamed Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Postviral Fatigue States: The Saga of the Royal Free Disease), he named three features of the disease: "(1) muscle fatiguability after minimal exertion and a delay in the restoration of muscle power; (2) cerebral dysfunction, and (3) impaired circulation".

[12] After multiple similar outbreaks in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposed a new definition and name of the illness to chronic fatigue syndrome.