Is it any wonder GPs are confused, and are seen to have questionable perceptions of ME?
Rapid response to:
Primary Care
General practitioners' perceptions of chronic fatigue syndrome and beliefs about its management, compared with irritable bowel syndrome: qualitative study
Is it any wonder GPs are confused, and are seen to have questionable perceptions of ME?
On one hand we have the ME patient community trying their best to
bring doctors’ attentions to the worldwide sound and scientific research
confirming the physiological aetiology of ME, and on the other hand a
group of psychiatrists ignoring most of this research in order to claim ME
as belonging to their own speciality. Their insistence upon the use of the
term CFS and the Oxford Criteria is further proof of the lengths these
psychiatrists will go to in an attempt to sell what is nothing more than
an untenable theory.
Whilst all this is going on ME patients are losing hope that this
dire situation in the UK will change, that the games and tactics will
finally come to an end, and that common sense will finally prevail. To add
to their frustrations tax payers money is being spent on PACE, which by
this stage in the debate must be recognised as a complete waste of such
valuable funds; whilst none of this tax payers money it would seem is
being used for scientific research into the causes, or the effectiveness
of more applicable treatment protocols being used outside the UK. Why?
Many of us have asked that the internationally recognised Canadian
Definition and Guidelines on treatment be put in place in the UK and there
are very good reasons for our doing so. The definition is more clear-cut
and so would put an end to those patients with less specific forms of
chronic fatigue being placed under the same diagnostic label as patients
with ME. This would immediately invalidate the PACE trails as they stand
now, so hence the reluctance on the part of Professor Simon Wessely, Dr
Peter White et al. to adopt them. They would also provide our GPs with the
information they need to treat us. So is refusing to adopt these
guidelines fair on GPs? I think not. Lastly it would ensure that the small
percentage of ME patients who have access to the new ME clinics and
centres of excellence will be offered treatments that will actually help,
rather than those which have already been proven potentially harmful.
Rapid Response:
Is it any wonder GPs are confused, and are seen to have questionable perceptions of ME?
On one hand we have the ME patient community trying their best to
bring doctors’ attentions to the worldwide sound and scientific research
confirming the physiological aetiology of ME, and on the other hand a
group of psychiatrists ignoring most of this research in order to claim ME
as belonging to their own speciality. Their insistence upon the use of the
term CFS and the Oxford Criteria is further proof of the lengths these
psychiatrists will go to in an attempt to sell what is nothing more than
an untenable theory.
Whilst all this is going on ME patients are losing hope that this
dire situation in the UK will change, that the games and tactics will
finally come to an end, and that common sense will finally prevail. To add
to their frustrations tax payers money is being spent on PACE, which by
this stage in the debate must be recognised as a complete waste of such
valuable funds; whilst none of this tax payers money it would seem is
being used for scientific research into the causes, or the effectiveness
of more applicable treatment protocols being used outside the UK. Why?
Many of us have asked that the internationally recognised Canadian
Definition and Guidelines on treatment be put in place in the UK and there
are very good reasons for our doing so. The definition is more clear-cut
and so would put an end to those patients with less specific forms of
chronic fatigue being placed under the same diagnostic label as patients
with ME. This would immediately invalidate the PACE trails as they stand
now, so hence the reluctance on the part of Professor Simon Wessely, Dr
Peter White et al. to adopt them. They would also provide our GPs with the
information they need to treat us. So is refusing to adopt these
guidelines fair on GPs? I think not. Lastly it would ensure that the small
percentage of ME patients who have access to the new ME clinics and
centres of excellence will be offered treatments that will actually help,
rather than those which have already been proven potentially harmful.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests