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I would actually recommend that the issue of re-contacting people is not raised and that it is made clear that if further contact for future projects might be helpful then people will be alert through press releases to log on again if they wish.

I am not at all sure about that. I think people volunteering have a right to want to be sure they are not going to be contacted on behalf of anyone except the grant holders. I think it would be a serious mistake to treat this cohort as a 'general research resource' in the way that Google and...

I am puzzled by this. Other researchers should be able to make use of the anonymised genetic data but I am not sure what is meant by making use of this re-contactable cohort. I don't see any reason why anyone except the grant holders should be permitted to contact patients. If the impression is...

No, it is appalling. People find it very hard not to find what they are supposed to find. But the fudging of temperature measurements seemed to develop in the 1980s. When I was a student the temperature charts tended to be accurate - because it was essential with patients with subtle fevers...

Quite right.

In a way yes, but there is also the statistical argument. Say 99 models have been published. A.N. Other publishes a new model - no. 100. If A.N.is right then 100% of 99 models were wrong. So the going rate for validity in this field was zero, and being out of 99 the p value or whatever the...

Another bit of highly suspect 'science' I would say. Firstly they get the maths wrong with 0.03 degrees drop per decade because over 200 years that would be 6 degrees and we would all be seriously hypothermic. Presumably they mean 0.003. We were never taught in the 1960s that normal was 37...

Theme four is the importance of setting boundaries. Health care providers are usually deeply caring people, and working with individuals in pain and in need of help is emotionally and intellectually taxing. Setting and maintaining appropriate emotional boundaries between you and the patient is...

If there was only one, or maybe three models based on different causal mechanisms then the chance that one of them was the right mechanism could be fair. The only model for tuberculosis was injecting animals with Mycobacterium tuberculosis - and that turned out to be the right model. But if...

I wouldn't be too worried about the SMC covering the project. The function of the SMC is to spread the word about 'good science' to the masses. Anything funded by the MRC is 'good science', perhaps partly because the MRC is paying. So any nay saying experts will have to say 'Oh yes well this is...

An idea that came to me in the days when I gave up animal model work was: If there are 100 models of illness X, each based on a different causal mechanism, then 99 of them must be the wrong mechanism. That makes it statistically highly likely that 100 of them are the wrong mechanism.

I agree that a National Research Integrity Ombudsman sounds exactly the sort of under-carpet sweeping job that is not wanted. The HRA ought to be in this position anyway and it seems to sweep merrily.

Are there already 5K expressions of support? In how long? My guess is that even with 2K at this stage the recruitment task would look pretty feasible.

My guess would be that a mouth rinse with plain water in someone with a dry mouth would probably do but needs checking.

Maybe there are more people diagnosed with fibromyalgia because GrimbyLive keeps doing articles on it. The rate of diagnosis by individual physicians varies by a factor of 100 so very likely it is just who has got a new job in A/E.

Yep, I think very definitely from my own little focus group investigation I think this is the general idea but because of the specific question being asked (are there linked genes) some slight adjustments are likely to be sensible. For instance it would be important not to miss people with a...

I would be extremely wary about mentioning anything about more questionnaires beyond the absolute minimum necessary to make a diagnosis for this study. The key thing is recruitment. As soon as potential recruits think they may have to wade through 'paper' either straight away or later they are...

Asking questions about personal problems so that you can then blame symptoms on the personal problems.

If you are having trouble providing drivelobabble ask in some drivelobabble consultants to research your problems and enhance your drivelobabble. It has to work. Thousands of satisfied customers say so. Everyone wants to be a drivelobabbler. 'I want to walk like you, talk like you ...

I think the answer is pretty close to zilch for this sort of set up, Andy. The rationale for C. diff is very simple. Antibiotics have destroyed normal microbes so it makes sense to put some back. For ME there is no rationale of that sort. I think people keep on thinking that immune disorders...