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For those new to it, Ted Ed is an initiative to create short animated talks for education purposes. This latest one provides a cute intro to the immune system. Its pretty basic, but still kind of cool. And worth a look if you're currently stuck in bed.

:( I am lost for words, @TrixieStix. So sorry for what you've been through. :cry:

It's a very good letter, @Tom Kindlon. Crisp and straight to the point. Nice objective tone. As you say, it addresses one key point, but its a good one. To give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps Lancet were just looking for more comprehensive critiques?

I just got this, @akrasia. Had to look up what he was saying. For other ignoramuses out there, its: "I'll show you the life of the mind! I'll show you the life of the mind!".

Yea, weasel words. And a common segue into "So its still okay to study the role of psychological factors". I would say no, it isn't. Given the current quality of psychological research, there is a high likelihood of making a false positive error, and such errors can cause serious harm to...

That's not correct. It means that a good number are missing less than two days of school a week, and a good number are missing more. If "days missing" is normally distributed, the numbers in these two groups (more vs. less than 2 days) will be more or less even.

Yes, many take the view that the benefits are not worth the costs, but that is if you're taking pred to ease ME symptoms. But the question @Samuel had was specifically whether it would make his ME symptoms worse, if he took it for another purpose (and I assumed short-term use). I also agree...

Gad you're finally getting treatment, @TrixieStix! He seems to be saying you have multiple diseases (Hickam's dictum is about having more than one disease at once). Isn't it more likely that all your symptoms are the result of RP?

I'm not sure this is always true. Not in psyc and neuro fields. Clinicians in these areas think in a particular way that makes it hard for them to step outside the box and challenge their assumptions. They do pretty average research in my area. Smart juniors can be really valuable. They are...

Yes. But many doctors believe they have the ability to do everything, even without any training.

I actually didn't think their connections with Atlantis were in fact relevant (I checked it out and the work they were doing there was genuinely not related imo). Doesn't mean I think any better of their piece (which was poor and deeply harmful to PwMEs). I just agree with them on that one...

Man, this is scary stuff. I wonder what this is: This is ominous. What sort of "psychological problems" could possibly be addressed by short term residential care? Is this people who won't take their meds or something, and who are sent to a ward where they are "dealt with"? It sounds...

Hi @Samuel. I can only contribute on the issue of prednisone (sorry, don't have anything helpful to say in response to your other questions). I asked on the other forum once about oral prednisone, and most PwMEs who've taken it get some relief form their usual ME symptoms, or at the worst, it...

On a brighter note, there are hints in the topic titles that some of the old guard are feeling threatened by recent developments in the field. They're not mentioning the actual elephant itself, but they're hinting at a large grey thing. This is encouraging, no?

Translation: What territory can psychologists still hold onto in the land grab for MECFS? Edit: Oh, I see @large donner beat me to that comment!

I tried curcumin at one time. One problem is that you have to eat buckets of the stuff to reach the doses that have been reported as therapeutic in the literature (1 tsp whole root turmeric paste doesn't cut it). And let's not get started about how much is actually absorbed and what form...

I like this sort of thing :thumbup: Its a really famous paper, and still THE go-to source to cite when you're concerned about studies making claims based on small samples. Though this is not the biggest problem afflicting psyc research into ME. The biggest problem is systematic bias. I reckon...

Oh, woops, I corrected that above.

No, I was serious. There's something not right with that definition. Stigma is to do with society's perception of an illness. Its not about power or control. Information can be controlled by the powerful and that information can influence society's perception of an illness. But that's just one...

I love this, @Subtropical Island! I feel proud of how I've learned to let go of all those worldly desires - to accomplish, to succeed, to adventure, to have fun - and still have managed to find much joy in my life. It is worth being proud of that. I hope you do!