Thanks Mij. Ummm- I'm a little confused by your response. At no point did I suggest ME is "MS light" or anything of the sort, so perhaps it wasn't necessary to respond in a terse/defensive fashion?! I know this "Ms Light" concept has been referred to in earlier posts, but I am not your straw man!!
I referred to 'apparent similarities' in the two conditions, which is consistent with the title of this thread. Apparent similarities (obviously) doesn't mean there aren't differences. Apart from the articles I've read re the apparent similarities, I also attended a presentation by Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik in October last year where she stated her research is finding ME/CFS is looking more and more like an auto-immune condition, and like multiple sclerosis in particular. This led me to the Jelinek book, as I was interested and had heard good things about it.
OK- I totally agree that black and white exercise recommendations such as 30 minutes 5 times a week are not applicable to ME sufferers. (Although I think we would agree that strictly individually tailored, gentle exercise can be good for us- I find yoga helpful, for example- probably because it helps with my POTS). However, exercise is hardly the focus of the Jelinek book. It's a peripheral thing and gets just a small mention- just a few pages on it in a 330 page book and he notes that those more disabled can look at hydrotherapy or modified gym programs.
So- leaving aside exercise- his primary focus (and what I was talking about when asking the question in my post) is on lifestyle changes, especially dietary that can (according to the evidence he presents) fundamentally alter the immune response/functioning of the immune system. The changes include adopting a plant-based + seafood diet, significantly increasing intake of Omega 3 fatty acids, completely eliminating saturated fats, increasing Vitamin D, meditation etc.
The evidence concerning the role of fatty acids and vitamin D in the immune response is very, very interesting. Also- the contention that supplementing with fish oil etc is useless if the patient continues to eat foods containing saturated fats. Dairy products and all meat (except seafood) is a big no-no. At any rate- the RCT and epidemiological evidence presented is very interesting. Of course, it's all for MS sufferers.....but there is regular mention (in general terms) of "other auto-immune conditions"....which made me wonder if anyone with ME had adopted this strict diet.
If you haven't read it, I highly recommend- one of the best-referenced books you'll come across...which is to be expected as Jelinek, apart from being an emergency physician and MS sufferer, was editor of a medical journal for many years.
Cheers,
Stephen