Shiven, it's not been proven "conclusively" that XMRV is involved in CFS. I'm not aware of any serious scientists stating as a fact it was the "cause". It remains controversial, and research continues. Ian Lipkin's study should yield results within 12months and that seems likely to provide more solid answers.
CFS, in the UK, is a wastebasket diagnosis based on very loose and broad criteria. It's absurd for anyone to suggest it is one condition. I know of people who have been diagnosed with CFS, but then subsequently diagnosed with MS, bone disorder, and other conditions. ME, however, looks to be a specific subset. CFS and ME are not the same - ME is a smaller sub section of the patient population.
In the absence of a biomarker and test, we are however reliant on diagnosis based on symptoms, and so I'm pleased to see the new ME International Consensus Criteria published this month. These diagnostic criteria were created by 26 researchers and doctors from thirteen countries, with 400 years of professional experience, who have treated 50,000 ME/CFS patients. Their view is that the correct diagnosis for many patients is ME, not CFS, and that ME is a very specific illness involving multiple systems.
There's a copy hosted here: http://www.wpinstitute.org/news/docs/me-international-consen...
Shiven, no sensible person is condoning attacks, but you have completely misunderstood what is happening. The reason people are so angry with the likes of Wessely is that in recent years ALL of the very small amounts of UK gov money going into ME/CFS research has gone to psychiatrists, when there's plentiful research showing (when patients are properly classified using proper criteria) they are physically very sick indeed with significant dysfunction in the immune system amongst others. It's indefensible. The majority of sensible patients are saying that they want biomedical research. It's absurd to suggest, as you are, that all ME/CFS patients are being self-destructive and stopping research by attacking researchers when it's a tiny minority. That kind of stereotyping is offensive, in any context. Let's not, as the press have blindly done this week, tar all patients with the same brush.
The poor results shown by The PACE Trial, even despite its sizeable cost, show the limits of what psychiatrists are able to do to treat ME patients (or even CFS patients). The psychiatrists are not succeeding in treating these conditions, and so clearly more work is needed.
If Prof Wesseley was threatened in the way he says (I've seen no evidence or heard of prosecutions) then those responsible must be prosecuted and if necessary jailed. However this drama created by Wesseley apparently putting out a press release (why?) is distracting us from the real question, when will the UK gov start putting funding in place to (additionally) look at biomedical causes of ME, which is a quietly devastating disease?
CFS, in the UK, is a wastebasket diagnosis based on very loose and broad criteria. It's absurd for anyone to suggest it is one condition. I know of people who have been diagnosed with CFS, but then subsequently diagnosed with MS, bone disorder, and other conditions. ME, however, looks to be a specific subset. CFS and ME are not the same - ME is a smaller sub section of the patient population.
In the absence of a biomarker and test, we are however reliant on diagnosis based on symptoms, and so I'm pleased to see the new ME International Consensus Criteria published this month. These diagnostic criteria were created by 26 researchers and doctors from thirteen countries, with 400 years of professional experience, who have treated 50,000 ME/CFS patients. Their view is that the correct diagnosis for many patients is ME, not CFS, and that ME is a very specific illness involving multiple systems. There's a copy hosted here: http://www.wpinstitute.org/news/docs/me-international-consen...
Shiven, no sensible person is condoning attacks, but you have completely misunderstood what is happening. The reason people are so angry with the likes of Wessely is that in recent years ALL of the very small amounts of UK gov money going into ME/CFS research has gone to psychiatrists, when there's plentiful research showing (when patients are properly classified using proper criteria) they are physically very sick indeed with significant dysfunction in the immune system amongst others. It's indefensible. The majority of sensible patients are saying that they want biomedical research. It's absurd to suggest, as you are, that all ME/CFS patients are being self-destructive and stopping research by attacking researchers when it's a tiny minority. That kind of stereotyping is offensive, in any context. Let's not, as the press have blindly done this week, tar all patients with the same brush.
The poor results shown by The PACE Trial, even despite its sizeable cost, show the limits of what psychiatrists are able to do to treat ME patients (or even CFS patients). The psychiatrists are not succeeding in treating these conditions, and so clearly more work is needed.
If Prof Wesseley was threatened in the way he says (I've seen no evidence or heard of prosecutions) then those responsible must be prosecuted and if necessary jailed. However this drama created by Wesseley apparently putting out a press release (why?) is distracting us from the real question, when will the UK gov start putting funding in place to (additionally) look at biomedical causes of ME, which is a quietly devastating disease?