Three years ago, a novel association between myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and the murine retrovirus XMRV was published.[1] Since then, 191 papers have been published on the subject (NCBI PubMed, accessed 6 November 2012), largely disproving the initial association, a trend confirmed by a recent multicentre blinded trial which definitively concluded that there is n...

This article summarises the research evidence presented in a recent issue of Effective Health Care on interventions for the treatment and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). It provides an overview of the evidence from a systematic review of randomised controlled trials commissioned by the Department of Health. The results of the systematic review were fo...

Both HIV/AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) presented major challenges for medicine, science and society. This article explores what could have impeded investigation of--and specifically pharmaceutical engagement with--CFS/ME, in contrast to the impressive achievements seen in HIV/AIDS. It explores the obstruction of mind-body dualism in a historical context, a...

Welcome to the first issue of Cutting Edge COPCs Research Advances, an electronic newsletter published by the Chronic Pain Research Alliance. Developed to keep the medical-scientific community abreast of recent research advances, this publication contains abstracts of recently published studies on the epidemiology, pathophysiology and clinical management of Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (...

On February 10, 2015, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) entitled, Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness (ISBN 978-0-309-31689-7). The report is significant not only because of its content but because of its source, the IOM, one of the National Academies that serve as advisers to the United States gov...

Introduction In October, 1957, the Medical Staff of the Royal Free Hospital reported in the British Medical Journal an outbreak of an illness amongst the hospital staff in 1955. Between 13 July of that year and 24 November, 292 members of the medical, nursing, auxiliary medical, ancillary, and administrative staff were affected by the illness and, of these, 255 patients were admitted to hospita...

The condition known variously as myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS has been steeped in controversy for 40 years more. Long Covid, first noticed and named 2020, become entangled with the because of striking similarities experiences patients suffering from two illnesses. Online health communities (OHCs) have played central roles both controversies, but these are not k...