BMJ 1995;311:1021 (14 October)

Letters

Patients with a self diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis

EDITOR,--S J Hurel and colleagues should have checked their facts more thoroughly before making such a generalised attack on the content of literature produced by the two support groups for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).1

The ME Association does not believe that candida albicans is involved in the pathogenesis of the condition. Our booklet Guidelines for the Care of Patients states that "no reliable scientific evidence has ever been published to support such a link" and that "consequently, anti-candida regimes involving highly restricted diets, probiotics and antifungal drugs cannot be recommended."2 Equally, we repeatedly warn our members about the serious dangers of colonic cleansing (particularly in relation to the risk of unhygienic operators transferring gastrointestinal pathogens) and advise extreme caution when consulting herbalists or buying over the counter herbal remedies. If we really were producing literature that contained pseudoscientific nonsense and advocated dubious forms of alternative therapy I doubt whether . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Patients with a self diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis
S J Hurel, B Abuiasha, P H Baylis, and P E Harris
BMJ 1995 311: 329. [Extract] [Full Text]

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