It would be interesting to know the attitude of those who believe in some idea of failure of "sleep hygiene", as discussed earlier,(sorry, my computer skills are very limited, but I am learning) towards conditions such as narcolepsy and encephalitis lethargica. I am not suggesting that they are the same condition but there are similarities and areas of overlap. Are, or were, these conditions brought about by a greater failure of sleep hygiene bringing on the more severe symptoms? If this be a major cause of illness why do not all students and junior doctors go on to develop CFS?
If glandular fever is time limited to three to four months presumably there must be an identifiable point at which glandular fever ends and ME/CFS commences. What is claimed to be the empirical evidence to support the suggestion. Or are symptoms of ME/CFS already evident in the patient before the termination of the glandular fever. How would one distinguish? One might have expected the consultant phsycians and infectious diseases specialists of old, with long experience of the early stages of the illness, to have made relevant observations or was it only their abnormal illness beliefs which prevented them from seeing the psychogenic nature of the continuing symptoms?
I suggest that those consultants used to say the condition might go on for up to three years. On this basis most of those that Crawley claims to cure would have been largely invisible to the system after about six months. Those not recovered after three years are the same as those who are not helped by the supposed modern methods.
It is not entirely clear from what she is quoted as saying that Crawley grasps the difficulties in saying that if the condition continues for three or four months we would call it chronic fatigue syndrome. She makes it seem that this is purely a matter of taxonomy, a matter of form. What we are interested in is matters of substance.
All the talk about the purpose of some charities has brought about the recall of a book from my youth. I think it must have been The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard, although I shall have to check when I am next able to. The book would have been essential reading for those who went on to become, and are now, senior civil servants. It outlined the ways in which business sought to change the perception of the public towards its products . One of the ways was to obtain influence with consumer groups by forms of entryism, so that the public would imagine the views expressed by such groups to be their own views. Legislators and regulators could then be dealt with appropriately.That may be a subject for a different thread.
If glandular fever is time limited to three to four months presumably there must be an identifiable point at which glandular fever ends and ME/CFS commences. What is claimed to be the empirical evidence to support the suggestion. Or are symptoms of ME/CFS already evident in the patient before the termination of the glandular fever. How would one distinguish? One might have expected the consultant phsycians and infectious diseases specialists of old, with long experience of the early stages of the illness, to have made relevant observations or was it only their abnormal illness beliefs which prevented them from seeing the psychogenic nature of the continuing symptoms?
I suggest that those consultants used to say the condition might go on for up to three years. On this basis most of those that Crawley claims to cure would have been largely invisible to the system after about six months. Those not recovered after three years are the same as those who are not helped by the supposed modern methods.
It is not entirely clear from what she is quoted as saying that Crawley grasps the difficulties in saying that if the condition continues for three or four months we would call it chronic fatigue syndrome. She makes it seem that this is purely a matter of taxonomy, a matter of form. What we are interested in is matters of substance.
All the talk about the purpose of some charities has brought about the recall of a book from my youth. I think it must have been The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard, although I shall have to check when I am next able to. The book would have been essential reading for those who went on to become, and are now, senior civil servants. It outlined the ways in which business sought to change the perception of the public towards its products . One of the ways was to obtain influence with consumer groups by forms of entryism, so that the public would imagine the views expressed by such groups to be their own views. Legislators and regulators could then be dealt with appropriately.That may be a subject for a different thread.
