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I seem to be a really spectacular failure in this department? About 10 days ago I accidentally found a way to relieve the muscle pain I've had for years, and within four or five days I couldn't remember what it was like to have it. The pain came back again this evening. I'd forgotten to top...

Oh, don't worry, it's not a serious discussion of science! Or at least, not a discussion of serious science. I think I'll recommend the Slapdash Assessment Tool to young doctors if I ever visit the area, as it's more fun and you don't have to write essays—you simply employ the time-honoured...

I read the title as "Tomato scientists are trying to crack one of COVID's biggest mysteries..." About right, then?

Apologies, I didn't see this at the time. Most of my house has industrial porcelain tiles (easier for wheelchairs), and I use a Shark steam mop. It's absolutely brilliant. It heats up in less than a minute, there are no chemicals or residues, and the floor dries very quickly. With a traditional...

I suppose it depends how you set it up, really. If a clinician wants to understand how something is experienced, they listen to patients outlining their symptoms, explaining how they manage them, and describing what they do to avoid provoking them. This is a normal part of diagnosis and...

The problem historically is that many of them have had a psychosocial basis, which is pointless. When it comes to other types of questionnaire, I guess it's possible to compile meaningful statistics about length of illness, work/education status, age at onset, etc, and to pick up some broad...

Because questionnaires are really, really cheap to compile and distribute? You don't even need to pay for envelopes and stamps these days. And they're really, really easy for supervisors to manage. Nothing messy or uncontrolled, like having to meet people or test them for something. Of course...

Because they're pretending to research ME. They're not; they're researching psychosocial issues, which are not specific to ME and frequently not even relevant to it. Obviously, there might be psychosocial issues that are relevant to certain illnesses or groups of illnesses, for instance those...

My first response would be: only if those psychological factors are what is being studied. Psychological factors aren't directly relevant to the diagnosis or management of physical diseases. If living with a physical disease results in psychological, emotional or social problems, then of...

In my theories for delayed PEM (which I admit have no basis in actual knowledge), one explanation is that the delay results from processes that take time to ramp up. For instance, I often have 'immune' type symptoms. This doesn't mean the immune system is actually involved, of course; but if it...

Merged thread New rule on recording PIP assessments Benefits and Work have released the following news announcement today regarding the rules about recording Personal Independence Payments assessments...

Sorry, Jenny, about the leg raise thing: presumably you wouldn't be moving it around with the legs raised (that would be hard indoors unless you've got very big rooms and no tight corners?), so would a lightweight camping table with a cushion on be an option? Sorry if that's a daft suggestion...

My main thought is that it's a rear-wheel drive, which are the most difficult to manoeuvre indoors? Mid-wheel and front-wheel are much easier, so they're the usual preference. Do you need to be able to transport it? If so, you are limited with the drive options—but if not, you might get a...

Not true for me; my ME symptoms are less severe now I'm in my 60s, retired, and pacing, than they were when I was 17, working, and not pacing. I've had some nasty relapses but always recovered eventually. My walking ability is poorer, but it's largely due to muscle loss in my lower legs caused...

Mostly severity, I guess, but it also comes down to type of work and level of autonomy. If I'd worked in a job where I had to be on my feet all day, such as nursing, I'd have lasted months at best. Same goes for work demanding a consistently high level of cognitive challenge and flexibility...

And mine—everything he says. I somehow managed to work through 38 years of ME, though there were three or four lengthy periods off sick. There just seemed to be no practical alternative, until additional illnesses made it impossible to continue.

I can't answer very comprehensively, @lunarainbows, but I'll have a go. Under the guidelines, my GP can only prescribe if there's evidence of venous incompetence, but each clinical commissioning group may be different. I started out by finding someone on eBay who I think was claiming them on a...

I'd somehow picked up the impression that this was often the case, but I've since read press articles written by virologists saying that it isn't necessarily so, and it can be rather a dangerous assumption. The articles seemed to be saying that, as long as a virus has enough time to replicate...

Yes, I agree (though doctors might use 'unambiguous' reluctantly!), but I'm not sure the second part of the sentence even needs saying. GPs usually have to exclude other things, either because it takes a while to get a full symptom profile from the patient or because clinical guidelines say they...

Indeed. The working mechanism of Jonathan's hoovers may be to make enough noise to dissuade the cat from sleeping in an armchair, thereby removing the need to vacuum hair off the seat. But only if he has a cat.