to the Dean of the RSM -Dr Speedy

[Guest guest]

From: Dr Speedy

as a GP with ME I can't say I am very impressed

with the RSM so i have send the Dean of the RSM

the following email:

Dear Dr Stradding,

On your site it says you are organising a conference

about CFS at the end of April.

" The aim of this meeting is to take a broad look at

chronic fatigue syndrome, examining its nature

and definition, pathophysiology " .

1. If I look at the list of speakers, I am

delighted to see that you have banned everybody

who knows that ME is a neurological illness as

defined by the WHO since 1969.

Now which CBT psychiatrist will mention this? NICE

didn't in their ME guideline….

So would it not have been a good idea to have a

neurologist like Dr Chaudhuri at your conference??

2. Who will mention that in 1988 the

psychiatrists changed the name from ME to CFS, then

in 1991 they changed the criteria to tiredness only,

and they created a completely new disease, or I

should say a wastebasket. They introduced names

like Yuppie Flu and Chronic Fatigue, and now many

doctors believe ME is about tiredness and they think

ME, or CFS as they want to call it, equals TATT. And

as you know, we as doctors hate TATT (Tired All The

Time).

3. That ME is something completely different

was demonstrated for example by Dr Ramsay, the

infectious disease specialist, in 1979 when he

published a paper that demonstrated muscle

abnormalities. Now which psychiatrist will mention

this and the fact that we can now demonstrate

mitochondrial dysfunction in ME patients very easily

with a blood test?? And the worse the test results

the worse the ME. And I realise that CBT is so good

that we can actually talk the mitochondria back to

normal…

4. Who will mention that ME patients are not

allowed to be blood donors???

5. Who will mention that you can DIE from

ME??? And no, I am not talking about suicide, I am

talking about dying from ME like for example Sophia

Mirza a few years ago. Did she die from false illness

beliefs, malingering, suggestibility or was it just

plain laziness??

6. Who will mention all the genetic

abnormalities in ME patients as found by Dr Kerr???

And yes I know, a few sessions of CBT and the

genes are back to normal.

7. Who will mention the fact that the MRC has

turned down all research into the cause of ME and

finding a cure and only sponsors CBT psychiatrists???

8. Who will mention that in children ME is now

the main reason to be off school long term??? Would

it not have been a good idea to have a paediatrician

like Dr Speight at your conference who is the most

experienced ME paediatrician in the UK???

9. Who will mention the fact that at least 25%

of ME patients are bedridden and many are tube

fed???

10. And even more important, who will mention

Dr Stein's excellent psychiatric ME guidelines that

demonstrate that CBT is useless, or the Canadian ME

guidelines that do the same???

11. And who will mention the recent article by

two Dutch psychiatrists in The World Journal of

Biological Psychiatry, April 2007, who stated that:

" The psychiatric and psychosocial hypothesis DENIES

the existence of CFS as a disease entity. " And that

" In CFS cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is most

commonly used. This therapy, however, appears to

be INEFFECTIVE in most patients. "

Which is not surprising as CBT is just as effective for

a neurological illness as watching grass grow….

which is a lot cheaper actually…

So why has the RSM, a Society of Medicine as I

always thought, not lived up to its own conclusion of

1978: " it is hoped that as a result of the meeting,

sufferers from this miserable illness will, in future,

be more sympathetically managed. "

The only thing that the CBT psychiatrists have done

is made the suffering of ME patients worse and now

you at the RSM are kindly hosting their yearly

psychiatric conference.

But please remember that you or your loved ones can

get ME as well and then you will realise, just as I

have learned the hard way, that CBT is all about

denying ME as a severe and debilitating physical

illness, and that you are now supporting them, and

denying ME just like they have done with MS, TBC

and many other physical illnesses in the past.

But let me add that I hope that you or your loved

once will not get ME as I now know what a delightful

business this is.

Kind regards,

Dr Speedy, a GP bedridden with ME.