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The answer should probably be the same way as for other conditions, through primary healthcare or hospital specialists. But since many patients avoid engagement for obvious reasons, and far too many doctors aren't interested in ME, that's not really viable. Social media is one potential avenue...

I agree, overtraining is potentially an interesting area. There are some very good sports scientists at Loughborough University, who probably know as much as anyone about it. Personally, I'd like to see some strategic thinking about what research avenues look most promising, work on how to...

Arts Council England created several of these, when someone decided that purchasers of arts provision for children & young people (schools, mostly) needed to be 'put in touch' with artists. Doing so, they said, would enable more and better art to happen. They created bridge organisations, full...

Well, at least we'll all know when science does finally catch up with ME. The studies will all be blaming patients for making themselves worse by pig-headedly doing stuff they know they probably shouldn't.

I took part in this study, and I definitely find the weather influences my pain. I haven't read the full report yet, but I'm not surprised they found some level of influence at least.

This is entirely true, but it would also be useful to include promising results that really need to be replicated. Perhaps we should begin by finding ways to segment or organise the information, to help us put it together?

Me too! Even if it turns out that we could never have unpicked ME without current or future technology (which is entirely possible), it would have been nice to be supported instead of gaslighted by the medical profession. However long we've been ill, all our lives would have been so much easier! :)

No, not if the proposition is that an IDO2 mutation is causative of ME. But Dr Phair, who developed the theory, has been clear that it isn't causative. If the theory's correct – and that's still a big 'if' – it's simply a vulnerability that won't affect the majority of people who have it. It...

I don't think anyone's ever said that, as something so common couldn't possibly be a useful marker. What they're saying is that it's part of a theory of how ME is triggered and perpetuated. The next job is to try to disprove this theory; if they can't do so, then it begins to look much more robust.

He's referring to a specific study – the Severely Ill Big Data study – not literally everyone with ME. Very common, more than 50% of people are likely to have them. They've never suggested that IDO2 mutations are in any way causative of ME, just that they could predispose to it. If the theory...

I heard on a radio documentary that the appendix has evolved on about 30 separate occasions in various species, which would seem to argue against it being a vestigial organ. They were discussing the theory that it may be useful in immune function, and as a repository for digestive bacteria in...

Hopefully it should make it a bit easier (fingers crossed, anyway). I'm now a council tenant, and was lucky enough to be offered a newly built bungalow. It has a pretty small back garden, but that's the only real drawback – otherwise, it's lovely. Spacious, too, as it's designed for a wheelchair...

They are mandatory, though, if you meet the conditions. Because the safety of the occupant, and access to a bathroom, are at the core of some of the conditions, an ME sufferer with physical limitations has a good argument. If you receive mobility allowance, or have a history of dizziness that...

I commented to my project manager that I felt lucky to have been awarded a sizeable Disabled Facilities Grant, given the pressures on local authority funding, and he explained that they don't actually provide the money. The scheme is funded by central government; the LA project-manages the grant...

I imagine it'd be quite difficult to buy a secondhand stair lift, wouldn't it? The most expensive part is the metal rail that the chair rides on, and the measurements for this have to be accurate to a fraction of a millimetre. Even two identical houses built next door to one another would...

@Simbindi – I'm afraid I can't find the agreement that was sent to me, which gave a list of conditions for which a home assessment should automatically be offered (which included autism). I'm not due to be reassessed for about four years, by which time everything's likely to have changed anyway...

DWP guidelines state that people with autism should always be offered a home assessment, so it's shocking to hear that you were dragged into a centre! I was offered a home one for PIP without asking, so Capita were (at the time, anyway – it was over a year ago) at least sticking to the rules there.

It's a bizarre attitude, isn't it. I was struggling to read small print when I got to a certain age, so I needed a solution. I chose to buy some reading glasses, which meant I could read again – sorted! Shortly after, I was struggling to walk even a few yards, so I needed a solution. I chose...

I haven't found this to be the case, to be honest. I've used self-funded wheelchairs since 2001, and it was accepted without question on three DLA, one PIP, and four ESA applications. Assessors got various things wrong on the reports – some were a long way off-target, as usual! – but they all...

I had this too (we didn't have a name for it then), but luckily it was much more short-lived. My profound depressions often lasted less than an hour, but I absolutely agree about the switch being flipped – I could feel it happen as clearly as a slap on the face. One of my final ones began at a...