THERE is no doubt in Dr Deirdre Murphy's mind that ME is a real and debilitating illness. As well as conducting research, the Dublin GP treats a number of patients who suffer from ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a title she feels better describes this organic disease.

"It is a disease but it may have a number of conditions that lead to the same result - CFS. When a patient is told there is nothing wrong with them that needs to be translated to: `Nothing that we know about is wrong with you but that does not mean that you do not have CFS'," Dr Murphy said.

She disagrees that it is a disease of "middle class females". It crosses age and sex barriers and she has treated patients as young (as II years.

There are reasons, she said, why some women are more susceptible (to it. "Many get viral infections (and do not rest. An example is a mother with young children who gets a virus and is unable to rest. She is also open to all the kinds of illnesses that children get because she is around them.

"I see primary teachers who are suffering from this and, invariably, they have been working hard and around children. Nurses are also included in this. In the ME/CFS group there is an excess of these women but that is seen around the world."

She and a number of other doctors interested in the condition carried out a survey of GPs with the assistance of the Irish College of GPs. They found that a "very high" proportion of the doctors believe that ME/CFS is a serious problem and "not in the mind".