Howick physician Rosamund Vallings is continuing her quest to demystify a debilitating illness affecting tens of thousands of New Zealanders with her new book, The Pocket Guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME.

Internationally recognised for her pioneering work, Dr Vallings is using her encyclopedic knowledge of the illness to produce a text that simplifies and explains everything for sufferers and carers alike.

Featuring the latest research, the book explains the illness carefully, offers strategies for dealing with specific symptoms, and details possible treatment options.

It also offers guidance on talking to others about the disorder and caring for CFS/ME sufferers, including the severely ill.

"One thing that happens is a lot of people go on the internet to search for this information and sometimes what they're finding isn't especially accurate," she says.

"This book gives them a basic, down-to-earth accurate overview which is really important."

Dr Vallings has more than three decades of experience in the field of CFS/ME, having first come across the illness as a student at The Royal London Hospital in the 1950s.

"I remember seeing these patients when I was a student and learning all about this, which was then called Royal Free Disease," she says.

"I eventually came to New Zealand and got involved with some research with one of the rheumatologists at Middlemore Hospital and as a result I became very interested.

"I started to see some patients and diagnose them, and of course word gets around and I started getting patients from all over the place. It's just grown from there."

Dr Vallings has written two previous books, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Management and Managing ME/CFS: A Guide for Young People.

She's also received a NZ Order of Merit, was a recipient of the Nelson Gantz Award for Outstanding Clinician by the International Association of CFS/ME, and was nominated for NZ Woman of the Year.

She says the disorder has baffled experts and patients for many years, but research is getting to a very exciting stage.

"People from all around the world are coming up with similar conclusions and integrating their research, which is a really good thing to happen.

"The biomarker is the one big thing. Having a reliable test is good both from the doctor and the patient's point of view, because you can reassure the patient that yes this is the right diagnosis or no it's not and we need to investigate further.

"There are also some fairly good studies going on in Europe looking at treatment options which are very encouraging, but the results of those trials are not going to be unwrapped until about October so everyone is waiting with baited breathe."

* The Pocket Guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME is published on August 8, with books available worldwide from www.calicopublishing.co.nz.