The use of the Oxford criteria to select patients with chronic
fatigue syndrome (formerly known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/ME) reminded
me of a quote from one of the most experienced specialists in the field
(1).
“To suggest that the diagnosis of ME is covered by the term “fatigue of
mind and muscle” is equivalent to defining diabetes as merely polydipsia
and polyuria and ignoring the eye, the renal, the CNS and arterial
consequences which may ensue”.
Why didn’t Powell et al just say that they studied people who had
felt tired for a couple of months? That’s the Oxford criteria in a
nutshell so why pretend they studied anything else? These patients were
tired, and some also had pain, anxiety and depression. That could reflect
any number of conditions, not just CFS.
Call it what you like but please note that those of us whose
disability amounts to more than 'fatigue, worry, aches and pains' find
this ongoing and systematic trivialisation and misrepresentation by
psychologists and psychiatrists totally offensive.
Yours,
David Axford
1. Richardson, J. M.E. The epidemiological and clinical observations
of a rural practitioner. In Hyde, B., Goldstein, J and Levine, P (Eds).
The Clinical and Scientific Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome. Ottawa: Nightingale Research Foundation. 1992, p 85-92.
Rapid Response:
Which patients did they study?
The use of the Oxford criteria to select patients with chronic
fatigue syndrome (formerly known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/ME) reminded
me of a quote from one of the most experienced specialists in the field
(1).
“To suggest that the diagnosis of ME is covered by the term “fatigue of
mind and muscle” is equivalent to defining diabetes as merely polydipsia
and polyuria and ignoring the eye, the renal, the CNS and arterial
consequences which may ensue”.
Why didn’t Powell et al just say that they studied people who had
felt tired for a couple of months? That’s the Oxford criteria in a
nutshell so why pretend they studied anything else? These patients were
tired, and some also had pain, anxiety and depression. That could reflect
any number of conditions, not just CFS.
Call it what you like but please note that those of us whose
disability amounts to more than 'fatigue, worry, aches and pains' find
this ongoing and systematic trivialisation and misrepresentation by
psychologists and psychiatrists totally offensive.
Yours,
David Axford
1. Richardson, J. M.E. The epidemiological and clinical observations
of a rural practitioner. In Hyde, B., Goldstein, J and Levine, P (Eds).
The Clinical and Scientific Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome. Ottawa: Nightingale Research Foundation. 1992, p 85-92.
Competing interests: No competing interests