Daily Mail:Chronic fatigue victims 'suffer fear of exercise':

[MeSci]

Guys, I have to disclose a conflict of interest: I have been exercising for several years. I have gained back muscle strength, but my mental fatigue (and permanent headache) are unchanged.

I have regained muscle strength without exercising - through diet and supplements plus more careful pacing. Did you do anything apart from exercise? And did you make sure to stay below your anaerobic threshold? And did someone else do all your chores...?

If not, it is puzzling...

 

[Snow Leopard]

And did someone else do all your chores...?

The chores can wait for a few days, I didn't say I exercised every day! (I would if I could though)

 

[MeSci]

The chores can wait for a few days, I didn't say I exercised every day! (I would if I could though)

I was thinking more of things that can't wait - shopping, cooking, washing-up, putting out rubbish, etc. That's more than enough exercise for many of us. There is no energy left afterwards, and we often can't even do all we really need to do.

 

[Snow Leopard]

I was thinking more of things that can't wait - shopping, cooking, washing-up, putting out rubbish, etc. That's more than enough exercise for many of us. There is no energy left afterwards, and we often can't even do all we really need to do.

Well it hasn't cured my fatigue, so you're not missing out on much.

 

[worldbackwards]

I was amused (if that's the word) by this picture accompanying the BBC story.

Bad back?

 

[Aurator]

Many people wonder how it's possible for articles like these to continue to achieve circulation in the national media. The answer is pretty simple: the small coterie of influential psychiatrists responsible for these sorts of worthless studies have shown themselves to be astonishingly good at one thing: networking.

When you have put in such a colossal amount of work acquiring as many friends as certain persons have in the media, the government, the Health Service and the insurance industry, it scarcely matters how strong the case of your opponents is or how weak your own; you have put in and continue to put in the necessary work behind the scenes to ensure that nobody with the power to make decisions pays any attention to the truth.

Ultimately what's at stake is not principles or reputation but something far less abstract: filthy lucre. Beneath the substantial veneer of respectability that certain people have acquired via status and titles that have been anything but thrust upon them there often lies a grubby and fundamentally uninteresting individual who is chiefly motivated by the most primitive material instincts.

 

[Min]

.
So, ME is an irrational fear condition, according to our free, brave, and independent minded British newspapers. And the treatment consists of...... reducing fears.
.

The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/society/...se-hinder-treatment-study-me#comment-46103742

‘Chronic fatigue syndrome patients’ fear of exercise can hinder treatment – study’

[Photograph of man hiking on moorland]
'A man walks through the Yorkshire Dales. Guiding CFS patients through a gradual increase in activity could help in treating the disease'

‘Researchers say belief that activity will make ME worse can limit effectiveness of graded exercise therapy or CBT’

‘Patients’ fear that exercise or activity will make chronic fatigue syndrome worse can significantly hinder treatment of the debilitating condition, according to researchers.’




The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...ndrome-can-benefit-from-exercise-9976254.html

‘Chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers 'can benefit from exercise'

‘People who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can improve their symptoms of exhaustion by reducing their fear that exercise will make their condition worse, researchers have said.’




The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/sci...e-syndrome-say-researchers.html#disqus_thread

ME: fear of exercise exacerbates chronic fatigue syndrome, say researchers’

‘Kings College researchers found patients who were able to overcome their fear about exercise showed the greatest improvement in symptoms’

‘People suffering from ME should get out of bed and exercise if they want to alleviate their condition, a major study by King's College has found.

Research found that therapies which encourage regular activity are the best way to tackle chronic fatigue syndrome but many patients are afraid it will make them more tired or achy.’





The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...-activities-aggravate-condition.html#comments

‘Chronic fatigue victims 'suffer fear of exercise': Patients are anxious activities such as walking could aggravate the condition’

Helping patients overcome fears was key to getting back to a normal life

· Gradually increasing exercise regime can help overcome symptoms

· Cognitive behavioural therapy was likewise effective

· Both treatments enabled at least one in three to recover from the disorder

· Syndrome leaves many bed-bound or in a wheelchair


‘Sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome are being held back from recovery by fears about exercise, claim researchers.

A new study found some people with the disorder were worried about doing activity such as walking in case it aggravated their symptoms.

Helping them overcome those fears was key to getting back to a normal life through supervised exercise and talking therapies, it is claimed.’


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Many thanks, here is a list of email addresses to which letters to the editor can be sent (with your full contact details):

http://www.mediahell.org/letters.htm

 

[eafw]

Many thanks, here is a list of email addresses to which letters to the editor can be sent (with your full contact details):

I've been trying to find if the NUJ have a set of guidelines for reporting on disability issues, but could only find specific reference to mental health and autism rather than anything broader.

Though I'm pretty sure if there were such guidelines that "acting as a willing and naive mouthpiece for institutional anti-patient interests, academic careerists and deeply flawed research" would not be in there.

 

[Bob]

I've been trying to find if the NUJ have a set of guidelines for reporting on disability issues, but could only find specific reference to mental health and autism rather than anything broader.

It might be worth looking at the Independent Press Standards Organisation (previously the press complaints commission) code of practice: https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html

Clause 1 Accuracy

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published. In cases involving the Regulator, prominence should be agreed with the Regulator in advance.

iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.

Complaints can be made to IPSO:
https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/makeacomplaint.html

 

[alex3619]

Many people wonder how it's possible for articles like these to continue to achieve circulation in the national media

That is part of it. Add in churnalism, massive cuts to media budgets, dumbing down of media, over-reliance on press releases and hyped statements ... the media is not what it used to be and so even more vulnerable to misinformation. This vulnerability is getting worse as public relations firms masquerade as information centers.

See part two of my blog on Zombie Science: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?entries/the-zombie-age-part-b.1334/

 

[Sean]

Many people wonder how it's possible for articles like these to continue to achieve circulation in the national media. The answer is pretty simple: the small coterie of influential psychiatrists responsible for these sorts of worthless studies have shown themselves to be astonishingly good at one thing: networking.

I have long said that Wessely's greatest skill by far is as a political manipulator and propagandist. And he is damn good at it. To our great cost.

 

[andre79]

First lesson when you study journalism is to research and interview different opinions and even opposite theories to achieve some degree of objectivism. What i have read so far about CFS, at least in the media, seems to be biased to the psychosomatic side. I am ashamed of my guild.

By the way, they don't even take in consideration people that, before getting sick, used to exercise seven days a week and even practiced extreme sports. How on earth did i get out of the blue, fear of exercising? Nonsense.

EDIT: i meant objectivity, no objectivism, Ayn Rand's philosophy jijij I know you all got me, and thank you for bearing with my poor english.

 

[Bob]

By the way, they don't even take in consideration people that, before getting sick, used to exercise seven days a week and even practiced extreme sports. My case, by the way. How on earth did i get out of the blue, fear of exercising? Nonsense.

And they don't take into account that many ME/CFS patients do regular, but limited, modest exercise, such as taking short walks. Not everyone is bed-bound.

 

[Aurator]

By the way, they don't even take in consideration people that, before getting sick, used to exercise seven days a week... My case, by the way.

I too was an amateur athlete pre-illness.

Can you tell me how badly you want to be able to do what you did before, and be what you were before, or even half do and half be it? For me it's beyond expressing.

How badly does anyone with ME want to be what they were before the onset of the illness?

I dream about the past regularly, and when I wake up I often ask myself whether perhaps I just made it all up, that state of wellness, that it really was nothing but a dream, and the state I'm in now is the only reality I've known. And then it gets so bad and so relentless you try to kid yourself, just to survive it, that this reality must be the dream, not the other way round.

 

[andre79]

And they don't take into account that many ME/CFS patients do regularly, but limited, modest exercise, such as taking short walks. Not everyone is bed-bound.

Exactly. I walk, the most that i can, because some light activity seems to help me. The more i read the article, the more i think that they are clueless about CFS.

 

[andre79]

I too was an amateur athlete pre-illness.

Can you tell me how badly you want to be able to do what you did before, and be what you were before, or even half do and half be it? For me it's beyond expressing.

How badly does anyone with ME want to be what they were before the onset of the illness?

I dream about the past regularly, and when I wake up I often ask myself whether perhaps I just made it all up, that state of wellness, that it really was nothing but a dream, and the state I'm in now is the only reality I've known. And then it gets so bad and so relentless you try to kid yourself, just to survive it, that this reality must be the dream, not the other way round.

I wouldn't call myself an athlete at all jeje but i certainly hit the gym every day before getting sick. I was a little bit obsessive with it, i must acknowledge. I used to do scuba diving, rappel and ocasionally paragliding.

I know how you feel, because i feel exactly the same. I miss to be able to do all those activities, i had such a confidence in my body and reflexes. I have never been too strong, but i was lithe. It hurts me so much to know that i won't be like that anymore that i prefer no to think about it. Some times i dream of getting a good treatment, but i prefer to deceive myself telling me that even if i was healthy i wouldn't be interested in doing such extreme activities anymore.

 

[Bob]

I too was an amateur athlete pre-illness.

I dream about the past regularly...

I used to love running, cycling & swimming etc., and I went through a stage of dreaming about running a while ago... Not running to or from anywhere... But just running... For the sake of running... And it was really pleasurable running... I really enjoy those dreams.

 

[SOC]

The PACE authors have managed to have their propaganda published in the UK's Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...e-anxious-activities-aggravate-condition.html

All I have to say is, "What a load of codswallop." Moving on.

 

[alex3619]

I went through a stage of dreaming about running a while ago... Not running to or from anywhere... But just running... I really enjoy those dreams.

Some years back I had the same thing. I think this was even before Forrest Gump was filmed.

 

[Valentijn]

By the way, they don't even take in consideration people that, before getting sick, used to exercise seven days a week and even practiced extreme sports. How on earth did i get out of the blue, fear of exercising? Nonsense.

They claim that we developed the fear due to being actually sick and reacting to being too active at that point. Then we suddenly keep being afraid of activity after the illness passes.

This completely fails to account for ME patients having had normal illnesses throughout their lives, and never having any problem recovering from them until ME hits. So basically after a life time of normal illness and recovery, they think that we just suddenly aren't able to cope? I've never seen them even try to explain that one.