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This is really interesting, @Webdog. It certainly fits, given what we know about the relationship between inflammatory blood markers like CRP and cardiovascular risk. Since MS is characterised by episodes of intense inflammation, it makes sense this would take a toll on the cardiovascular...

I can't read the main thing - that link just goes dead for me. But isn't this the wrong way around? That is, higher maternal psychopathology positively correlates with recovery? So the more fucked up your mum is, the more likely you are to recover? I wonder if they had any predictions - or...

Eew!

Nice find, @MSEsperanza!

Yes, but I think it was time and money wasted, because it simply attempts to link one outcome with a bunch of potential predictors, without applying any conceptual framework beyond simple association.

Speaking of expensive but nevertheless atheoretical work, I just came across this:

The "blues" study I mentioned above actually cost a lot - it was an fMRI study. They would definitely have needed a grant. I was on a national research funding panel once. The cheapest research areas to fund were economics, mathematics and linguistics. But all three produce some great...

Good article. It seems to me the elephant in the room in a lot of these replicability discussions. A lot of the problems in replication would disappear if we were to stop testing hypotheses based on stupid or half-baked ideas (like whether you're more responsive to blue wavelengths when feeling...

I just saw this. Having only read the summary so far (the one in the OP), my first worry is that these neural correlates they've found - which are just that, correlates - could easily morph into causes, and ultimately, feed the view that fatigue is a construct created entirely in the mind...

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:!!

@Amw66's link provides clarification. https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/07/30-mental-health-experts-write-secretary-state-unprofessional-conduct-uk-royal-college-psychiatry/ It seems a group of psychologists, psychiatrists and patients are concerned that the RCP is deliberately ignoring...

I think you're right. I'm pretty sure Tina was talking about integrated care, which addresses medical, psychological and social needs. As a non-nurse, my best experience of this type of care was my postnatal care, where visiting midwives came to check on my baby's health, but also attended to my...

Thanks, Tom. I figured she'd find her way here.

Or maybe, just maybe, severe COPD can leave you feeling depressed. Or maybe having severe COPD just makes you tick more items on a depression scale, so you're more likely to "look" depressed? I wonder how many items examine fatigue, concentration, sleep, all of which may be compromised in COPD...

Tina, how would you describe your approach? Perhaps you consider it important not just to address the medical needs of the patient, but also their social and physical environment - for example, educating their families on how they can support their loved ones, and offering advice on physical...

Yes, good point.

In fact, its a bit of a misnomer to talk about the "placebo effect", and it creates unnecessary confusion. People often use that word to refer to any improvement that occurs in the control arm of a treatment trial. And there are a whole bunch of reasons you might get that improvement: 1...

To clarify: Lucibee is right. Some treatments that are used in a placebo conditions in some studies might have some actual benefit. So for example, if you used a placebo which involved putting people on a saline drip, the saline might make them feel a little better. By then this is not "the...

The placebo effect disappears when you use objective measures or ratings by a blinded reporter.* So it is NOT genuine improvement - that would show up on objective measures/other-rated measures. It is an attentional bias towards experiences that confirm an expectation, and away from those that...

Its very contrived: Pacing, graded Activity, and Cognitive behaviour therapy: a randomised Evaluation (PACE) I know, right? PACE had a "control group", but the trial can't technically be called controlled, because that implies everything was identical in the control and active conditions...