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MUPS = CFS (Norway/Denmark)

Ren

.
Messages
385
Just an FYI...

"Patients with persistent medically unexplained physical symptoms: a descriptive study from Norwegian general practice" / BMC Family Practice, May 2014

Aase Aamland 1,2 Kirsti Malterud 1,2,3 and Erik L Werner 1
1
Research Unit for General Practice, Uni Research Health Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, N-5018 Bergen, Norway.
2 Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
3 Research Unit for General Practice in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark


"Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS) captures conditions characterized by symptoms without corresponding objective findings 1], such as asthenia, low back pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, or chronic fatigue syndrome..."

"For the purpose of this study, we defined persistent MUPS as “physical symptoms with no identified organic cause, lasting for at least three months and leading to a loss of function”."


Full text: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2296/15/107
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
This is primarily a prevalence study. It is not psychobabble itself, though its on shaky ground in one important sense. MUPS become MEPS with enough time. This is happening now in ME and CFS. E=Explained. Currently nearly all ME symptoms can be medically explained. What we lack is proof that any particularly theory of causation is fully correct, whether for subgroups or all of us as a whole.

MUPS is basically a wastebasket diagnosis. Its failure to diagnose ... not necessarily the doctor's failure either. Several huge problems that doctors have no control over include the lack of good science (science takes time, interest, and money); the availability of appropriate tests; the distribution of good guidelines on tests and testing; prevailing nonsense views that compete with sound ones that doctors do not have the time to examine and analyze properly.

Now while I say that individual doctors are usually not to blame (there are exceptions), I am of the view the profession is largely responsible. How can they stuff up, in the face of overwhelming evidence, so consistently and for so long, and yet still want to defend their stuff up? Why are they willing to accept unsubstantiated, unproven and untested psychobabble?

MUPS is a real category. The diseases within it are probably, overwhelmingly probably, real diseases. We just don't know enough to figure out what is going on.

MUPS= "We don't know".
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
This is primarily a prevalence study. It is not psychobabble itself, though its on shaky ground in one important sense. MUPS become MEPS with enough time. This is happening now in ME and CFS. E=Explained. Currently nearly all ME symptoms can be medically explained. What we lack is proof that any particularly theory of causation is fully correct, whether for subgroups or all of us as a whole.

MUPS is basically a wastebasket diagnosis. Its failure to diagnose ... not necessarily the doctor's failure either. Several huge problems that doctors have no control over include the lack of good science (science takes time, interest, and money); the availability of appropriate tests; the distribution of good guidelines on tests and testing; prevailing nonsense views that compete with sound ones that doctors do not have the time to examine and analyze properly.

Now while I say that individual doctors are usually not to blame (there are exceptions), I am of the view the profession is largely responsible. How can they stuff up, in the face of overwhelming evidence, so consistently and for so long, and yet still want to defend their stuff up? Why are they willing to accept unsubstantiated, unproven and untested psychobabble?

MUPS is a real category. The diseases within it are probably, overwhelmingly probably, real diseases. We just don't know enough to figure out what is going on.

MUPS= "We don't know".

Because god forbid the medical community admits to something as "We don't know".