What cfs means pdf#
What cfs means series#

I understand the point you were trying to make but I see no problem in using these symptoms as positive diagnosis markers as the combination of PEM with cognitive, neurological and autonomic nerve system disfunctions have been the hallmark symptoms of ME since the 80s and before. To us that's an open door, but many GP's have no idea, and it's vital, and helpful, that they understand this. They will be found much faster if a GP can cross off ME because the patient doesn't fit the description and keeps looking. And just think of the individuals who will be helped by this if their problem is for example a deficiency of some sorts which causes fatigue. It is not only a helpful set of criteria for GPs, it cuts off a dismissive shortcut used by bad GP's that don't want to deal with 'difficult' or even 'hypochondriac' patients. You have to have the four associated symptoms present, and if the associated symptoms are completely absent you might want to guess again what you're looking at.

What cfs means series#

Because it emphasises that you can't just do a limited series of general tests on your patient and then dump them in a 'CFS/ME' wastepaper basket because one of their symptoms is 'fatigue'.

What cfs means pdf#

The bit about ME being a positive diagnosis and not a diagnosis of exclusion is not in the PDF brochure attached to the article, and I actually think it might even be a bit poorer for it. I think Doctors with ME did a very good job there.* I just read it and I think it's a great article. Yes of course there's room for error, especially if the patient has a condition that's quite rare and poorly-defined, but the majority of the time the clinical picture will be clear enough to give a positive diagnosis. The persistence of the response to activity over that length of time is unusual enough to be characteristic, and the only real debate is at what point you start calling it ME rather than a post-viral syndrome. I'd argue-and I know some folk will disagree-that at least after the 12-month mark, ME is fairly easy to diagnose if you know what you're looking for. That probably goes for quite a list of other conditions too. How would you diagnose depression and mild asthma if objective measurements were required? I'm not sure you could, which might mean millions of people missing out on treatments that would help a significant proportion of them live a much more normal life. There are some really common conditions that are practically impossible to measure accurately, and often rely on response to treatment as part of the diagnostic process-which, on a rigid interpretation, is even more unsatisfactory than an experienced clinician's reading of signs and symptoms, because it depends on an inexperienced patient's interpretation of whether or not a medicine works. Click to expand.You'd also be in trouble without it, and have to leave a lot of people with no diagnosis at all.