I don't see that elderly people have the same problems with exercise as people with ME. It misses the point that exercise is to ME what pollen is to hay fever - it causes a worsening of symptoms.
David Bell said that his patients would feel fine if they spent all their time lying down.
Exercise, often minimal, makes all the symptoms of ME worse. People often mistake the post exertional malaise of ME with the aches people get after going to the gym for the first time in months, but it is very different.
All the body will be affected, not just the part that was exercised. Indeed physical effort can often lead to mental confusion. An elderly lady has never forgot how to get home just because she was encouraged to take a walk but this happened to me.
Life events at one point meant I increased my exercising very gradually and I began to feel fitter and much better. I thought I was on my way to a cure.
Unfortunately the underlying illness was still the same but the new fitness meant I lost my cues for when to stop. One Wednesday afternoon in May 1990 after three months of getting fitter simply by walking more, my legs stopped working. I have never managed to take more than a dozen steps since and am a house bound wheelchair user.
Doctors just don't seem to appreciate this any more. The understanding has been lost with the passing of doctors like Melvin Ramsay who really understood this disease.
Mithriel
David Bell said that his patients would feel fine if they spent all their time lying down.
Exercise, often minimal, makes all the symptoms of ME worse. People often mistake the post exertional malaise of ME with the aches people get after going to the gym for the first time in months, but it is very different.
All the body will be affected, not just the part that was exercised. Indeed physical effort can often lead to mental confusion. An elderly lady has never forgot how to get home just because she was encouraged to take a walk but this happened to me.
Life events at one point meant I increased my exercising very gradually and I began to feel fitter and much better. I thought I was on my way to a cure.
Unfortunately the underlying illness was still the same but the new fitness meant I lost my cues for when to stop. One Wednesday afternoon in May 1990 after three months of getting fitter simply by walking more, my legs stopped working. I have never managed to take more than a dozen steps since and am a house bound wheelchair user.
Doctors just don't seem to appreciate this any more. The understanding has been lost with the passing of doctors like Melvin Ramsay who really understood this disease.
Mithriel