With ME 35 years (30 yrs severe). 95% of posts on #MEcfs/#LongCovid/#chronicillness. 26 publications in peer-reviewed journals. @IrishMECFSAssoc trustee 27 yrs
Oct 23 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
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"Ignored, blamed, & sometimes left to die – a leading expert in ME explains the origins of a modern medical scandal"
There's an audio version of this long but highly recommended article at link
“Worse, when we don’t ignore them, we blame them, telling them they are all free to rise from their beds & wheelchairs, to walk away from the city. Doctors tell them they can free themselves of the disease by changing their belief systems. (contd)”
#MyalgicEncephalomyelitis
Oct 1 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
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I was impressed by knowledge of the Belgian author of this
Automated English translation:
"When exercise puts your health at risk"
Turns out she is a researcher whose research has been supported by @MEResearchUK
“What makes PEM [post-exertional malaise] particularly insidious is that symptoms often do not worsen until 24 to 72 hours after exercise. As a result, patients who feel fine immediately after exercise can unknowingly push themselves beyond their limits”
#MEcfs #PwME #CFS
Sep 11 • 17 tweets • 9 min read
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New 24-minute video from @MEActNet & @patientled
"Understanding Post-Exertional Malaise - Dr Brayden Yellman"
I thought this was very good. Great to have a doctor who gets it.
#LongCovid #MEcfs #CFS #PwME #PostExertionalMalaise 1/
@MEActNet @patientled @BatemanHorne 2/
From 24-minute video from MEAction & Patient-Led Research Collaborative
"Understanding Post-Exertional Malaise - Dr Brayden Yellman"
I thought this was very good. Great to have a doctor who gets it
#LongCovid #MEcfs #CFS #PwME #PEM #PESE
Aug 3 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
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CW: Distressing topics
“Chronic fatigue, 'mass hysteria', and Dr Melvin Ramsay”
Paywall:
Sympathetic article on Melvin Ramsay, Maeve Boothby-O'Neill, and Edina Slayter-Engelsman.
On Edina: “It left her bedbound, unable to even shower or use the bathroom, and so sensitive to any kind of sensory stimulation that reading a book or watching the television would be harmful.”
#SevereME #MEcfs #PwME
Jun 11 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
A new definition for Long COVID that has been launched today by the National Academies in the US
1 Read the activity
2 Complete the online CME Test & Evaluation. Participants must achieve a score of 80% on the CME Test. One retake is allowed.
Visit (contd)mayoclinicproceedings.org
Sep 1, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
New from @OxMEDiscovery group:
Developing a Blood Cell-Based Diagnostic Test for #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis/#ChronicFatigueSyndrome Using Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Free
Funding from @MEAssociation; samples from @mecfsbiobank
"These results demonstrate Raman profiles of blood cells can distinguish between healthy individuals, disease controls, and ME/CFS patients with high accuracy (91%), & can further differentiate between mild, moderate, and severe ME/CFS patients (84%)."
#MEcfs #CFS #PwME
Jul 6, 2023 • 31 tweets • 7 min read
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Extracts from:
"European Network on #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis/#ChronicFatigueSyndrome (EUROMENE): Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis, Service Provision, & Care of People with ME/CFS in Europe (2021)"
which I thought was good
Good to see if Fukuda are to be used, they make this recommendation:
"Fukuda criteria may also be used as a screening tool for diagnosis in clinical practice, but we recommend only cases with post-exertional malaise (optional in that definition), are included for diagnosis"
I thought this was very good. Will post extracts. #MEcfs#CFS#MedEd 1/ 2/
My overview:
Paper has lots of useful points & also helpful overall to show how the NICE guidelines for ME/CFS have changed dramatically in the UK from the 2007 version, with the updated approach being much more sympathetic regarding helping patients.
"[As well as post-exertional malaise] other common symptoms of #LongCOVID & ME/#CFS include fatigue, cognitive difficulties, dysautonomia, reduced tolerance to physical +/or cognitive exertion, brain fog, unrefreshing sleep, pain & immune system symptoms"
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“What Is #LongCOVID—and How Are We Going to Solve It? This potentially life-altering post-viral syndrome may have affected as many as 23 million Americans (and counting)”
“We’re starting to gain more understanding of what’s driving #longCOVID & who is most at risk, & the more we understand, the more it will help us get a grip on similar chronic illnesses, like #MECFS, that have been largely ignored for far too long” - @VirusesImmunity
“Histamine-producing gut bacteria can trigger chronic abdominal pain. The discovery has been named Klebsiella aerogenes, the McMaster-Queen (MQ) strain”
“The culprit is what has now been named Klebsiella aerogenes, the McMaster-Queen (MQ) strain, identified in up to 25 per cent of gut microbiota samples from patients with #IBS. Researchers examined stool microbiota samples from both Canadian and American patient cohorts”
Jul 27, 2022 • 11 tweets • 10 min read
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“Israeli finding may make hard-to-diagnose #fibromyalgia easy to confirm:The chronic pain condition can be detected based on analysis of gut microbiome,scientists say in peer-reviewed research,potentially paving way for objective diagnosis,treatment” timesofisrael.com/israeli-findin…
1/2/
“Many medical professionals have been eager for an objective diagnostic method [for #Fibromyalgia], both for practical reasons and also to rebuff those who doubt the genuineness of the condition”
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Some extracts from “The politics underpinning the neglect of people with ME/#CFS” which summarises her paper “Towards a critical psychology of #chronicfatiguesyndrome: #biopsychosocial narratives & UK welfare reform” by @JoElizaHunt
#MEcfs#PwME
1/2/ “The [#biopsychosocial] model has been used as psychosocial model, to re-frame chronic health conditions (particularly those surrounded by medical controversy or uncertainty) into psychosocial entities, allegedly amenable to psychosocial healthcare interventions (contd)”
“New research provides insight into Long COVID and ME: Researchers have uncovered how post-viral fatigue syndromes, including #LongCOVID, become life-changing diseases & why patients suffer frequent relapses”
“Arising commonly from a viral infection, #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis/#ChronicFatigueSyndrome (#ME/#CFS), is known to cause brain-centered symptoms of neuroinflammation, loss of homeostasis, brain
fog, lack of refreshing sleep, & poor response to even small stresses”
“In December 2021, the Scottish Government commissioned Blake Stevenson Ltd to engage with stakeholders…to gather
their views on the NICE guideline on #ME/#CFS”
“For this independent stakeholder review, a total of 37 stakeholders contributed. This consisted of 14 clinicians, 10 third sector #ME/#CFS organisations/academics & 13 people with lived experience of #MECFS,
(contd.)”
New from Japan
“Clinical Characteristics of #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis/#ChronicFatigueSyndrome (#ME/#CFS) Diagnosed in Patients with #LongCOVID” mdpi.com/1648-9144/58/7…
“The overall prevalence rate of ME/CFS [in #LongCovid] diagnosed by three sets of #MECFS criteria…was 16.8%”
1/2/ “most frequent symptoms in #ME/#CFS patients were general fatigue & post-exertional malaise (89.4% of patients), headache (34.0%), insomnia (23.4%), dysosmia (21.3%) & dysgeusia (19.1%). Dizziness, chest pain, insomnia & headache were characteristic symptoms related to #MECFS”
Jun 24, 2022 • 4 tweets • 7 min read
[Thread]
It's 3rd anniversary of our paper
"Monitoring treatment harm in #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis / #CFS: A freedom-of-information study of NHS specialist centres in England"
“A small Dunedin-based team of researchers are critical to
understanding fatigue disease in New Zealand, but they might not be
around in another year.”