By Jeff Wood

I’m proposing a new model of ME/CFS that may also apply to Long Covid.

For three years, I was bedridden with severe post-viral myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS). The medical system could not offer a solution and was often hostile and dismissive. And so, I began synthesizing research and tinkering with ideas. I wanted to figure out the underlying cause and find a treatment before it was too late.

Finally, after three years, this effort paid off. I discovered that the cause of my ME/CFS was craniocervical instability. I had treatment in 2018 and have been in remission ever since.

That same year, I developed and proposed a new model of ME/CFS — the Mechanical Basis Model. The brainstem is central to this model, as is the body’s connective tissue. I suspect this model is also relevant to Long COVID. You can read more here.

My story went global in 2018. Initially, there was some resistance to the Mechanical Basis Model because it was very different from previous ideas about ME/CFS. But in the time since then, published research on mechanical conditions in ME/CFS has emerged.

ME/CFS is broadly considered to be unsolved and incurable. I disagree with this idea, in part. It’s clear that some people with ME/CFS, and Long Covid, have treatable neuromechanical pathologies. The exact percentage remains unknown as I write this in 2025. I suspect the number is high.

These are still early days for research and discovery. More to come!