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Blood letting was probably recommended at one time by the Royal College of Physicians here in the UK, but given both NIH in the US, and imminently NICE in the UK in their new guidelines, are no longer supporting GET and CBT as treatments for ME it would be as reasonable to publish an article in...

So sad, that such quackery continues to be given apparent credibility by institutions that should know better.

Do any of these researchers have any understanding of the difference between ‘association’ and ‘causality’? I have observed that people undergoing surgery wear hospital gowns, so we should be discouraging people from wearing hospital gowns in order to reduce the need for surgical interventions...

My understanding is: Literally ‘somatic’ means relating to the body. So literally ‘somatic symptoms’ are simply bodily symptoms. In origin the word is neutral as to cause, however in these contexts it is generally used in the sense of ‘psychosomatic’ that is symptoms of the body arising from...

I used to take various medication, when I still worked part time for migraine, though my impression was they only served to delay attacks, and ultimately lying immobile in a darkened room was the only solution. However they could be used to get through my days working. My migraines can occur...

I don’t take sleep medication in part because I have a ‘psychological’ resistance to taking any medication long term if I can avoid it, but also in the past, given I don’t work and have no time dependant commitments, just letting my body sleep when it wants seems to eventually work out quite...

(Sorry to state the obvious, but ... ) I agree that we need to scrutinise carefully what is said in tomorrow’s draft about CBT as so far there is a distinct ambiguity about what CBT in relation to ME involves in practice. My recollection is that this ambiguity was inherent in the odd NICE...

Perhaps a better example placebo than the single aspirin is how I use the ‘energy drink’ Lucozade. When I was a child Lucozade was still marketed as a health drink to be used as part of treating common ailments like cold and flue. For me Lucozade is inseparably linked to being taken care of, to...

This is such a large area that it can not be covered in a simple comment. There are many different solutions to different problems, and it is also complicated in that it sits between several medical specialism (eg ENT, neurology, gastroenterology). (Also with my poor cognitive functioning I am...

Another excellent blog post, thank you @Michiel Tack and Evelien.

This seems predicated on a belief that there is a treatment. At present there are no meaningful treatments.

I echo this. Despite what the out going NICE guidelines say, there are no evidenced treatments for people with ME or ME/CFS of any age. Anyone attempting anything other [than] symptom management is undertaking experimental intervention and should only do this with appropriate ethical approval...

Am looking forward to seeing the recording. There have been some very positive comments on Facebook. [corrected spelling]

At least it is reassuring that the authors took reporting or lack of reporting adverse events seriously unlike some review articles closer to home.

I remember how optimistic I was when there was the move to set up specialist ME/CFS Services across England, and how disappointing that turned out to be.

Whether we agree with the draft guidelines or not a ‘robust’ response will be needed. We will need to be outspoken about what we support as well as anything we disagree with, for example if the new guidelines, as we hope, are clear in rejecting GET as harmful and pointing out the lack of...

Well done and thank you.

Thank you @Dx Revision Watch for keeping us up to date on the formal ins and outs of the ‘Long Covid’ naming issues. It will be interesting to see how much the science drives the naming and the naming process drives the science. Will it ultimately be seen that Covid-19 triggers a number of...

Given, at least here in the UK, what little evidence we have is that the current ME/CFS specialist services are unhelpful or even potentially harmful, I agree with @Trish that I would not wish the current specialist services inflicted on anyone, including people with Long Covid. The current UK...

Here, here.