I know from bitter experience that ME, or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is a difficult subject.
I did a TV programme to try to get to the bottom of it, and to find out what caused it. I couldn’t, and that upset a lot of people.
The situation is still the same – we don’t know what causes it, but we do know that it can be a debilitating condition.
So the news that graded exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help is a real step forward.
A study was published in The Lancet in February, involving 641 participants who were treated for six months and followed up by a further six months, according to rigorous trials of four different treatment options. By the end of the study, the patients treated with CBT or graded exercise had less fatigue and better function than any other group.
CBT is based on the idea that some psychological problems stem from inappropriate ways of thinking.
It helps people recognise and understand their negative thought patterns and show them ways to consciously change them.
Tiredness is always a prominent part of CFS, plus muscle pain and flu-like malaise.
Of the 15,000 people affected in the UK, many cases arise after a persistent viral infection that has weakened the immune system. But that doesn’t explain symptoms such as impairment of short-term memory or concentration and un-refreshing sleep.
The problem is there are no specific criteria to make a diagnosis of CFS, nor are there any specific tests to confirm the diagnosis, so most patients have to deal with it through lifestyle management.
Graded exercise therapy and CBT both encourage the patient to do more which was the most beneficial approach.
What this study emphasises is that CBT and graded exercise should be used alongside other lifestyle management, such as dividing the day into sessions of rest and work; setting realistic goals; healthy eating; trying to reduce stress and joining a support group.
So people with CFS may want to try CBT and graded exercise. It could change their lives.
Feel Good UK is running an overcoming ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome one day workshop in Portsmouth on Saturday 7th May 2011.
Called 'GET YOUR LIFE BACK', the workshop will include a number of practical exercises and techniques to help participants change their emotional and thus energetic states, quickly improving how they feel.
The workshop comes with a no quibbles full-refund promise if after 6 months of applying these techniques, no improvement has taken place in the participants life.
To enrol on the workshop, follow this link: http://overcomingchronfatigue.eventbrite.com
View these recent TV clips discussing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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