There's been a major breakthrough for people living with chronic fatigue syndrome, with new research into the causation of the disease undercovering it's a pathological illness.

Researchers found chronic fatigue syndrome and the related myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, is a calcium ion channel impairment condition.

The announcement proves the diseases isn't imagined or illegitamite like many living with the condition have been told before; it’s real.

Professor Don Staines, a clinical professor from Griffith University's National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), said the findings were a "watershed moment".

"We've demonstrated there are impairments in a particular group of calcium ion channels, and this causes impaired entry of calcium ions into the cell," he told Hack.

In simpler terms, this means there is a lack of calcium in the cells and in the cells ion channels, which affects their ability to function properly.

Calcium ions are critical for a whole range of biochemical and genetic functions, and affected cells can be present in the cardiovascular, neurological, muscular, immune and other systems of the body.

Which is why there's such a large spectrum of symptoms and severities among those living with the condition.

The discovery has also meant that researchers can now develop a definitive diagnostic test to determine whether you have ME/CFS.

Professor Staines said they "still have some way to go before we get a diagnostic test," but he's confident a test will be ready in the future.

"We're currently investigating different drugs as well, that may be useful in the laboratory setting before we move to clinical trials," he said.

"It's going to be amazing"

For Lyn Wilson, the recent breakthrough has been nothing short of wonderful.

"It'll make it more legitimate and more doctors will take patients seriously. There's still a lot of doctors who don't understand it," she told Hack.

Lyn is the president and secretary for the ME/CFS/FM Support Association Queensland and has been living with CFS for 28 years.

She said while she's got a great doctor and support network now, that wasn't always the case.

"I had a lot of trouble with one neurologist who just told me I was overweight and unfit and should go and join an aerobics class," she said.

Getting a diagnosis is still a really hard thing to do and this is going to make such a difference."

Last week, a Parliamentary Friends Group for ME/CFS was launched in Canberra. Representatives from all sides of politics turned up to support research into the disease, including Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John.

"I am so excited that those people who have been suffering with ME/CFS and the associated stigma that comes with the condition finally have some hope," Senator Steele-John said.

What this research has discovered is that your condition is real, your symptoms are real, and that you deserve recognition from the medical community.

"It is now incumbent upon us as policy makers to do everything we can to ensure that this incredibly important research is continued."

Roughly 240,000 people in Australia suffer from ME/CFS and they're often given medical advice to engage in exercise or undertake cognitive behavioural therapy - the therapy that counsellors often use when you see them for mental health concerns.

Such treatments have been discredited in the treatment of the disease, and supporters and sufferers hope the latest research goes a long way to lower the stigma of "just being lazy".

"For me, the biggest take away from this breakthrough is that it is neither a physiological or a psychological condition; it is pathological. Graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy simply do not, and cannot work, for people suffering with ME/CFS," Senator Steele-John said.

"Forcing someone to do exercise when their muscle cells are not producing enough ions to work properly is nothing short of cruelty, and these kind of treatment programs must end so that proper treatments can be found."

Lyn is hopeful the discovery will help her community gain access to better support and treatments.

"It's a very hard illness to get that support so the research that's being done at Griffith is brilliant and were very grateful for it. It's going to be amazing. I don't know what we'd do without them."