Another Syndrome Bites The Dust………

Lord, what fools these mortals be! - William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Act 3 scene 2

Oh boy! I can hear the uproar now. This goes right along with my recently expressed opinions about Homeopathy, and the demand for 'organic' foods, and the (imagined?) need for huge quantities of so-called food supplements, not to mention the fixation of some people on only eating 'health foods,' and let's not forget the needless worry over gene manipulation in food, or the mistaken belief that immunizations for children should be refused (leading to an increase in diseases that had almost been wiped out) and all that other stuff. I know. I know. By now your'e wondering what in the world am I talking about, right? Well, here's a recent news article:

Chronic fatigue syndrome has been controversial ever since 1984, when a cluster of cases in an upscale Nevada resort town attracted national attention.

Now a British study in The Lancet is likely to open another chapter in the medical saga.

Comparing four different treatments for CFS, researchers find that psychotherapy and gradual increases in exercise were clearly better than specialist care or an approach favored by many CFS advocates called "adaptive pacing," which helps patients live within their limits.

The results were quite clear," Dr. Michael Sharpe of the University of Edinburgh told one reporter. "When a therapist worked with the patient to help them do better over time, it produced better function and less fatigue." Sharpe is the paper's senior author.

The two therapies that proved superior in the study are:

• Twice-a-week cognitive behavior therapy to change the way CFS patients think about their devastating fatigue, or to reduce their fear of exertion; or
  
• Similarly frequent sessions that gradually increase a patient's activity level, within the patient's ability.
  

  Would you believe this is very close to what some folks said about this thing many, many years ago? In other words, "get up off your lazy butts, and get moving!" And, of course it was all in their heads, and while it is true that this will piss off a whole bunch of folks, can you imagine how many folks are now vindicated? This so-called syndrome (along with some other prominent diagnoses over the last twenty or thirty years) rightly deserves to be shown for what it is in fact, and maybe now some folks can get on with their lives. Can you imagine how much money was tossed away seeking treatment for this condition over the years? How many charlatans made huge amounts of money by offering treatments for this condition? How many people were duped into paying for all kinds of treatments that really could not have ever been efficacious?
  

  Now, not long after I found the reference you can see linked below, I saw one of those scrolling lines while watching an American TV news program, that mentioned that it is true that Lyme Disease and CFS share certain diagnostic commonalities, but a simple blood test will confirm Lyme Disease, so that indicates another door is closed to those who wanted to cling to the mistaken belief that CFS somehow has a viral cause. Want to know more? Here is the URL for the article I found referenced on NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/02/18/133865482/psychotherapy-and-exercise-look-best-to-treat-chronic-fatigue-syndrome?ft=1&f=1001