Training for children with chronic fatigue works better than medical care alone, finds study

A widely publicised technique for treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in children actually works, to the surprise of the researcher who conducted the first randomised controlled trial of it.

The Lightning Process, developed by osteopath Phil Parker, has made bold claims that it can cure CFS in children. It is not available on the NHS, and costs around £620 (€702; $837) per case treated.

Esther Crawley, professor of child health at the University of Bristol, runs a clinic for children with CFS. She conducted a randomised controlled trial comparing specialised medical care, of the sort her unit already provided, with the same care as well as the Lightning Process.

“I never expected it would work,” she told a briefing at the Science Media Centre in London. But the trial, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood,1 showed positive results. The …