Andy
Retired committee member
Two more Rapid Reponses
One of interest (first two paragraphs) from Diane O'Leary
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Discussion of this Rapid Response has moved here:
Diagnosis of ME and the use of the labels ME and CFS.
One of interest (first two paragraphs) from Diane O'Leary
https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3026/rapid-responsesGreenhalgh and colleagues provide an invaluable foundation for management of long Covid (including both “post-acute Covid” and “chronic Covid”) in primary care.[1] It would be helpful to have some explanation, however, for their use of the term “chronic fatigue syndrome” (CFS) rather than “myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome” (ME/CFS). While authors might hope to circumvent longstanding controversy about those terms, management of long Covid does require clear, consistent understanding of the core ME/CFS debate.
The term “chronic fatigue syndrome” names a psychiatric condition that sometimes develops in reaction to acute viral infection.[2] [3] [4] It is essentially deconditioning that arises from inactivity when patients embrace faulty illness beliefs. By contrast, the term “myalgic encephalomyelitis” or “ME/CFS” names a chronic biomedical disease that typically develops after acute viral infection.[5] [6] Criteria for CFS are very broad, while criteria for ME/CFS include only those with the hallmark symptom of post-exertional malaise. In the US, “ME/CFS” has been the term in use for governmental health organizations since 2015, including NIH, National Academy of Medicine, CDC and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In the UK, NICE has also shifted in recent years from the terms “CFS” and “CFS/ME” to the terms “ME” and “ME/CFS”. This change signals concern about biomedical disease as a guiding principle of revisions to the existing guideline for management. This year, in a striking shift in orientation, the UK funded the largest ever biomedical study of ME/CFS.[7]
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Discussion of this Rapid Response has moved here:
Diagnosis of ME and the use of the labels ME and CFS.
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