11 February 2010
It is
easy to see how the "strange conflation" to which Professor Broome
refers would, of course, create a sense of unease in psychiatrists such
as himself and his more prominent peers. Chronic fatigue may not be a
terminal illness but myalgic encephalomyelitis can be.
The
media generally do not portray the condition as a "progressive,
paralysing, and commonly fatal illness". Normally the media follow the
propaganda which elements in King’s College have continuously promoted
since the late eighties.
If
people with ME had only "bed sores, chest infection and malnourishment"
to contend with then the rest of the patient population would not have
to endure the consequences of the stranglehold which psychiatrists have
on this illness – which is at the expense of patients and despite more
and more evidence showing ME to be a serious and progressive biological
condition.
Any
pessimism exhibited by those with this illness finds its source not in
the condition itself but in the ignorance and mendacity of those who
engineer scarce funding from the MRC in order to support the pretence
that ME is a somatoform condition, or who publish research based on
flawed diagnostic criteria. In fact those suffering the tremendous
disability of severe ME are surprisingly optimistic despite the travails
of having to deal with prejudice from the some parts of the medical
profession and the media.
To use
NICE as an example for promoting the use of CBT and GET is risible and
perverse, yet entirely predictable. The fact that 90% percent of ME
support groups opposed NICE, the fact that ME patients took NICE to a
judicial review in protest at their guidelines for ME, the fact that the
only support that NICE could muster from those supposedly supporting the
ME community were from organisations that accept government money and
who themselves organise “psychosocial conferences” on ME – all of this
illustrates the lack of confidence which people with ME and their
families have for NICE.
And yet
NICE is supposedly there to guarantee excellence in clinical practices.
But we
have long since gone past the point where a small section of
psychiatrists influencing NICE can really persuade anyone that CBT and
GET are serious answers to a neurological illness – we just have to wait
for the psychiatrists to catch up or, more likely, be left by the
wayside as real science establishes beyond doubt the pathology of this
illness.
Patients
and their families are increasingly aware of this policy-based evidence
making which NICE and those who dominate the MRC promote based on the
policies of the last generation which funds only research projects on ME
which promote the psychosocial view of its aetiology.
The
problem with the treatment of ME in the UK is essentially, as Professor
Broome’s posting demonstrates, down to poor education about the
condition and this stems from the education of medical students and
continues, for many doctors, through their years of practice. It is also
heavily influenced by biased research.
If one
is fed a constant diet of biased research then one can expect little
more than ignorance to exist.
But
there is hope as biomedical research into ME is on display at the annual
Invest in ME biomedical research conferences which take place in
Westminster in May – with its theme of Education of Healthcare Staff. Dr
Broome could attend this conference on 24th May and clearly see how
privately-funded biomedical research is progressing and showing the
effects of ME – from cardiomyopathy to viral persistence and, from the
latest research by the Whittemore-Peterson Institute, to the discovery
of a link between the XMRV retrovirus and ME. Hardly just bed sores and
chest pains!
There
really is a great deal of catching up to do for some sections of the
medical profession with regard to ME.
With one
of the lead researchers on XMRV in attendance at this year’s conference
perhaps the editor of the BMJ could also attend the conference and write
an informative, unbiased article about it for the readers of this
journal. The invitation is there.
Ultimately, education really is a progressive discovery of one’s own
ignorance.
Invest In ME
Registered charity number 1114035
Support ME awareness - www.investinme.org
Invest in ME is an independent charity promoting education and biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis.
5th Invest in ME International ME/CFS Conference - London 24th May 2010 -
http://tinyurl.com/ykdoqkc
DVD of the 4th Invest in ME International ME/CFS Conference - London 29th May 2009 -
http://tinyurl.com/pv2z8k
Invest in ME is also on facebook - see
http://www.investinme.org/IiME%20ME%20Facebook.htm
Further links:
