Opinion Chronic fatigue syndromes: real illnesses that people can recover from, 2023, The Oslo Chronic Fatigue Consortium

I find it very amusing that Twitter now has to add community notes to Paul Garner's tweets. This consortium truely has reached the Trumpean version of scientific truth.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1705910778937672150

 

Frustrating article. The journalist doesn't seem to do any attempt to figure out what is going on or what the truth is. They just quote the researchers and then a short response by a patient/advocate who doesn't agree. It doesn't give readers any background or insight.

A good journalist would have looked into the matter himself/herself and asked critical questions: didn't the PACE trial had null results for recovery/employment? Why doesn't the consortium address the reports of harm by GET? Why are no current patients or patient organisation involved? Isn't the new perspective proposed the same as the one proposed by Wessely et al. in 1989? etc.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1706675965227573414




Adam @ABrokenBattery's tweet:

"Hi @ellapickover @eblackburne, I have put together a quick thread in response to your recent article 'New hope for 'incurable' disease that leaves sufferers shattered'. There may be some things you are not aware of."



The article Adam is responding to:-


'New hope for 'incurable' disease that leaves sufferers shattered'

'Little is known about ME - or chronic fatigue syndrome - but people with the condition can suffer for years with many left feeling their is no hope'

'the new paper, from the Oslo Chronic Fatigue Consortium, which is made up of researchers, clinicians and patients including some academics from the UK, suggests that there is not a “specific disease process” behind chronic fatigue syndromes, including “post-Covid conditions”.

'Academics said symptoms are “more likely to persist if they are perceived as threatening, and all activities that are perceived to worsen them are avoided”. They also suggest people with chronic fatigue syndromes should avoid “prolonged rest, social isolation and sensory deprivation”.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-hope-incurable-disease-leaves-27783441


etc, etc. The journalists just parroting the devious, manipulative fiction narrative by the BPS cabal.

 

I know that the title of the article is really annoying given that we know this has been the dominant paradigm since at least Incline Village if not earlier. However, it's possible that the authors now perceive that the ground is shifting and feel like they're now the beleaguered minority. They've taken a lot of losses lately like PACE FOIA and NICE Guidelines 2021.

 

Apologies if this has been posted already. I saw it posted to a Facebook group I'm a member of.
The poster didn't put which newspaper it was in. A couple of comments mention the Daily Mail but the journalist looks like they work for the Independent I newspaper and it does remind me of its formatting though I'm certainly no expert on UK papers.

I wonder is there any chance the Science Media Centre or some other body have sent out a press release/similar?

 

And another one! The BPS/psychosocial cabal tactic of flooding the press with their disinformation, their well worn tactic.


Nottingham Post. There is a template as these articles are the same word for word, a few jiggled sentences maybe. Dross.


'New hope for 'incurable' disease that leaves sufferers shattered
Little is known about ME - or chronic fatigue syndrome - but people with the condition can suffer for years with many left feeling their is no hope'

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news...gwFAs5qwLTGEUSKDyIHYbD6IeJwMEqILdOrscU9QVPsoE

 

Speaks to lazy journalism as well.

 

Same thing with the lazy "Long Covid is inflated" editorial. Looks like the SMC doing a push on both here.

Meanwhile record sick leave news are being blamed on 'stress' and mental illness. It's really remarkable just how much propaganda there is on medical issues. I knew to some degree but it's as bad as what polluting industries and other nasties do. It really raises many questions about how common this is, because it's clearly core to health care policy.

 

It takes two to swallow an obvious lie: a liar and someone willing to not care how obvious the lie is. At this point I barely blame them, they're being handed praise and awards by their peers. How could they really suspect that they could possibly be wrong given this? They got everything they wanted, everywhere they go they're elevated and everything they say is presented as genius work, even when they parrot the same old stuff they always did. Even though it's all been debunked, there are never any consequences.

We just keep at it. We're right and they're wrong, and it doesn't matter yet but it will eventually.

 

Apologies if this has been posted already

 

Similar to Dr Norman Swan today on ABC radio at 6:15 — "[Graded exercise therapy] is controversial with a small group of people with chronic fatigue syndrome. But if you look at the ... population of people who've got ME/chronic fatigue syndrome, there is good evidence that cognitive behavioural therapy, in the absence of medical therapy... what are you going to do? Are you going to sit with your symptoms?"

 

No, we're going to lie down!

 

So depressing that Dr Norman Swan keeps parroting Andrew Lloyd’s BS. Does not even have the decency to read the Pace trial himself and look at the raw data. He has interviewed Sharpe, White Wessely and Lloyd multiple times over the years and never had a patient or specialist on who deals with the disorder daily. Seems he will never get out of his mind that post infective fatigue states are not psychosomatic illness with deconditioning.

 

Most “journalism” in the UK consists of copy-pasting, maybe slightly paraphrasing, KCL / SMC press releases.