"Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Real Illness" (editorial) (Komaroff, 2015)

[Dolphin]

Free at: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2322808

Editorials | 16 June 2015
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Real Illness
Anthony L. Komaroff, MD

Ann Intern Med. 2015;162(12):871-872. doi:10.7326/M15-0647

Chronic fatigue syndrome (named by some as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome [ME/CFS]) frustrates many physicians.

That is understandable because there are no diagnostic tests or proven treatments.

Some physicians even insist that the illness has no biological basis.

Patients who seek help from such physicians are unlikely to have a satisfying therapeutic experience. 1–4).

I will recap their answers to important questions.

 

[JaimeS]

Nicely done, actually. I had no idea my poor reaction to corticoids could be considered somewhat diagnostic. I wish they'd linked that statement directly...

-J

 

[Never Give Up]

These reports from the IOM, AHRQ, and NIH demonstrate how much we have learned about ME/CFS and how much we still do not know. We do not understand its pathogenesis, and we do not have a diagnostic test or a cure. However, these recent reports, summarizing information from more than 9000 articles, should put the question of whether ME/CFS is a "real" illness to rest. When skeptical physicians, many of whom are unaware of this literature, tell patients with ME/CFS that "there is nothing wrong," they not only commit a diagnostic error: They also compound the patients' suffering.

I hope someone besides us actually reads this.

 

[ahimsa]

When skeptical physicians, many of whom are unaware of this literature, tell patients with ME/CFS that "there is nothing wrong," they not only commit a diagnostic error: They also compound the patients' suffering.

Yes, that was a good quote! I used the last part of the quote for one of my tweets today during ME Awareness Hour - https://twitter.com/ahimsa_pdx/status/611232674728968192

I hope someone besides us actually reads this.

You and me both!

 

[Amaya2014]

"When skeptical physicians, many of whom are unaware of this literature, tell patients with ME/CFS that "there is nothing wrong," they not only commit a diagnostic error: They also compound the patients' suffering."

I need this on a t-shirt and a coffee mug.

 

[ahimsa]

I need this on a t-shirt and a coffee mug.

Feel free to use this image on zazzle or some website like that:

 

[Chris from Tampa]

Thank you for posting this.

 

[JaimeS]

My doc actually read it and commented on it. He agreed that it was 'very wrong' to assume physical weakness implies a mental unwillingness.

-J