News from Scandinavia

Don't think this Icelandic conference has been posted?

Beyond the Diagnosis, Understanding Complex Chronic Illness
BRIDGE BETWEEN CONTINENTS

An open international conference will be held on 29. October, bringing together leading Icelandic and international experts in ME, Long COVID, Environmental illness and POTS to share the latest knowledge from research and clinical practice.
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The conference is particularly relevant for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers and other healthcare professionals who wish to deepen their understanding of these complex and often misunderstood illnesses. It is also important for professionals working within government, municipalities and institutions in the fields of health and social services. The challenges faced by these patient groups will be discussed, along with ways to improve services and support.

Patients, family members and other interested individuals are warmly welcome. For them, the conference offers a unique opportunity to hear from leading international experts, access reliable information and learn about the latest research that is changing our understanding of these illnesses.
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Registrations close 20 October. There's a free livestream. No idea if there'll be recordings

Programme and speakers at link. The international line up is the usual crowd and doesn't look to promise anything new. There are also a number of Icelandic names I don't recognise
 
The Norwegian broadcaster NRK is following a court case about a nurse who is suing the state because he believes he developed ME due to a vaccine (Astra Zeneca) against Covid.

Over 2500 have applied for compensation for being harmed by covid vaccination, and the results of this trial will be important for the outcome of these other cases as well.

Oct. 4th: Saksøker staten: "Jon" mener han fekk ME av covid-vaksine
google translation Suing the state: "Jon" believes he got ME from the Covid vaccine

Oct. 6th: Lege mener det er sannsynlig at covid-vaksinen kan gi kronisk utmattelse
googel translation Doctor believes it's likely that the Covid vaccine can cause chronic fatigue
 
Good media news from Norway. :)

Lena Kjempengren-Vold has written an opinion piece in the journal for Norwegian psychologists.

It seems sensible.

She argues against the foundation of the psychosomatic explanations.

Maybe the brain isn't wrong.​

What if the body has actually changed after the infection, and the brain is reacting to that? Then the goal should be to understand what has happened, and what the body is still reacting to, rather than teaching the brain that it is safe.

Therefore, I believe the leap from PRT for some forms of chronic pain to MBRT for post-infectious fatigue deserves far more attention than it receives.

A treatment model cannot simply be transferred from one condition to another because both involve the brain. The brain is involved in all disease.

And a metaphor about a "false alarm" does not become a documented disease mechanism because it is easy to understand, works well on TV, and gives hope that symptoms can be turned off again.
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www-psykologtidsskriftet-no.translate.goog

Tar hjernen egentlig feil om utmattelse?

En metafor om en «falsk alarm» blir ikke til en dokumentert sykdomsmekanisme bare fordi den er lett å forstå.
www-psykologtidsskriftet-no.translate.goog www-psykologtidsskriftet-no.translate.goog
 
Article about Sweden abandoning people with Long Covid.

www.aftonbladet.se

Jörgen, 54, har haft postcovid i mer än sex år

54-årige Jörgen Hassler visste att han förr eller senare skulle bli utkastad ur samhällets trygghetssystem. Men när det skedde blev han ändå förvånad.
www.aftonbladet.se
  • Jörgen Hassler, who suffers from post-covid, lost his sick leave without a medical examination after being on sick leave for over five years.
  • Jörgen is now without compensation and relies on his wife's income and own savings.
  • His experience illustrates flaw in the security system. He advises others not to expect long-term protection from society.
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Don’t expect society to protect you. It sounds hard, but in my experience, that's exactly how it is.
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Oddly enough, this has been one of my main lessons out of this nightmare. I've often heard of stories of rich people whose only regret in their last days is how they neglected the people in their lives, how they should have made less money and spent more time with them instead. But when you get sick people leave you, abandon you, just as society does. I actually regret more not having worked harder to make more money, so that I would be able to protect myself, because we can't rely on other people to save us from something as common as this.
 
The recommendation to involve the Nordic Council makes me think of the amount of discussion around the recommendation from the Nordic Council to include "no safe intake level of alcohol" in the new Nordic Nutrition guidelines. If we had the same level of participation in other health debates I think we would be a more health literate society..
 
Nightsong said:
Working group appointed by the Director of Health in Iceland
Healthcare services for ME/CFS, Post-COVID Syndrome, POTS and environmental illness
Key findings and recommendations
September 2026
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Interesting to read. It seems eerily familiar. The general gist is on message - more services needed for ME/CFS. But the emphasis is on beefing up a rehabilitation unit and:

It is proposed that the Clinical Care Guide from Bateman Horne, USA for ME, Long COVID, and related illnesses be used to support the assessment and treatment of patients in Iceland.

That guide was full of inappropriate stuff.
 
Jonathan Edwards said:
Interesting to read. It seems eerily familiar. The general gist is on message - more services needed for ME/CFS. But the emphasis is on beefing up a rehabilitation unit and:

It is proposed that the Clinical Care Guide from Bateman Horne, USA for ME, Long COVID, and related illnesses be used to support the assessment and treatment of patients in Iceland.

That guide was full of inappropriate stuff.
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I don't know much about the icelandic ME community, but I've seen many in Norway highlight Bateman as good, and not necessarily able to see the problems.
 
Nightsong said:
Don't think this has been posted anywhere:

Working group appointed by the Director of Health in Iceland
Healthcare services for ME/CFS, Post-COVID Syndrome, POTS and environmental illness
Key findings and recommendations
September 2026

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Thank you for posting this. There's a news article also on this in English
  • The report says services and insurance protection are inadequate relative to the burden carried by patients.
  • It recommends strengthening Akureyri Clinic, formalising cooperation with Landspítali and establishing specialist rehabilitation.
  • Other proposals cover home care, research, professional training and social-insurance changes; they are recommendations, not adopted policy.

www.icelandreview.com

Iceland Report Calls for Overhaul of ME and Long COVID Care

A new Icelandic report sets out 42 recommendations to improve care, research and social support for people with ME, long COVID and POTS.
www.icelandreview.com www.icelandreview.com
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