Well done Dr Speedy !

[Guest guest]

I can't post all the good responses to Dr Speedy's

letter to the Dean of the RSM. I choose the one

below by Dr. Greensmith. And I hope that Dr

Speedy will use his talent in the future for more of

these excellent contributions in Help ME Circle.

~jvr

``````

From: ME Free For All.org

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NEWSLETTERS FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

One of the best letters EVER from Dr Speedy, not

just in response to this CFS conference on 28 April

2008 but such a brilliant, succinct overview of all the

problems that ME sufferers face. Such a shame that

he has to be one of them to know it from the

receiving end. We are delighted to put it on our

website here

http://www.mefreeforall.org/Campaigning-Letters.324.0.html#c2198

with the others, 10 so far. His is #8 I think.

Well done Dr Speedy

Best wishes

drjohngreensmith@...

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>

> 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.