Tuesday, December 22, 2009

CBT: Cheap Bananas Today ...

3 comments:

  1. What a puzzle for the Citrus-Banana Therapist to sort out, Dr Speedy

    Do the bananas have an aberrant orange belief

    - or do the oranges have an aberrant banana belief?

    Thankfully the MRC will grant a taxpayers' millions for a FINE trial -`Fruit Identity Nonsensical Inquiry

    and a PACE trial - Pineapples Are Confusing Examination

    Prof VeryPointyend will be paring down the evidence

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  2. Antibody to parvovirus B19 nonstructural protein is associated with chronic arthralgia in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)

    "Parvovirus B19 DNAaemia was documented in 11 CFS patients as compared with
    none
    of the controls. In a previous study (Kerr et al, 2001), 4 of 5 patients
    with B19-associated
    CFS (ie patients followed from the time of detection of anti B19 IgM whose
    CFS-like
    symptom onset occurred comtemporaneously with detection of anti-B19 IgM, and
    whose
    symptoms persisted such they later fulfilled diagnostic criteria for CFS)
    exhibited B19
    DNAaemia at follow-up. Therefore, this finding may suggest that the disease
    in these 11
    patients, may have been somehow induced by acute B19 infection. ****Such
    patients have
    previously been shown to respond very well to intravenous immunoglobulin
    (IVIG)****, the
    only specific treatment for parvovirus B19 infection (Kerr et al, 2003). In
    patients with
    antibodies to anti-B19 NS1, but without parvovirus B19 DNAaemia, it is
    possible that the
    parvovirus infection was latent and reactivated at a low level."

    References from above:

    Kerr JR, Barah F, Mattey DL, Laing I, Hopkins SJ, Hutchinson IV, Tyrrell DA.
    (2001). Circulating tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma are
    detectable
    during acute and convalescent parvovirus B19 infection and are associated
    with
    prolonged and chronic fatigue. J Gen Virol 82:3011-3019.
    [TK: This is available on the CFS Research Foundation's publications
    webpage: http://www.cfsrf.com/Publications.htm - direct address:
    http://www.cfsrf.com/pdf/JGV.pdf ]

    Kerr JR, Cunniffe VS, Kelleher P, Bernstein RM, Bruce IN. (2003). Successful
    intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy in parvovirus B19-associated
    chronic fatigue
    syndrome (CFS). Clin Infect Dis 36:e100-6.
    [TK: This is available on the CFS Research Foundation's publications
    webpage: http://www.cfsrf.com/Publications.htm - direct address:
    http://www.cfsrf.com/pdf/ivig.pdf]

    -------comment from Tom Kindlon, Irish ME Association:--------
    Reminder that there were in total 200 patients with "CFS/ME" from the US and
    UK in this study.

    This would mean that 11/200=5.5% of CFS patients on average would have
    Parvovirus B19 DNAaemia that could be found by testing at follow-up (i.e.
    testing at the start of the illness isn't required) and be prime candidates
    for intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)

    As mentioned above, the 2001 study found that 4/5 (=80%) of those with
    parvovirus B19-associated CFS exhibited B19
    DNAaemia at follow-up. [In the 2001 study, the 39 patients with parvovirus
    who were followed were contacted after a follow-up period of 2-37 months
    (mean of 22 +/- 5 months)]. In the 2009 paper, the mean duration of illness
    for the whole sample was 3.67 years or 44 months.

    If it was the same rate at 3.67 years, a further 5.5%/4=1.375% would be
    candidates for intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (on top of the
    aforementioned 5.5%) as their illness would have started with Parvovirus B19
    (i.e. it would appear that 6.875% of cases of CFS started with Parvovirus
    B19).

    If the rate at 3.67 years went down to 60% (say - random figure less than
    80% chosen as being less than 80), a further (5.5%/60)*40=3.67% would be
    candidates for intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (on top of the
    aforementioned 5.5%) as their illness would have started with Parvovirus B19
    (i.e. that would give a figure of 9.17% of cases of CFS started with
    Parvovirus B19).

    ReplyDelete
  3. 23 Dec 2009




    Dear Prime Minister


    New medical research, relating to M.E. (myalgic
    encephalomyelitis) and the XMRV virus, have
    shattered the MRC belief that M.E. is a psychiatric
    condition.


    The Chief Medical Officer( CMO) and MRC have for
    many decades adhered to the idea that these
    patients could be lined up as a psychiatric problem.

    Certain British psychiatrists used this notion for their
    own self interest in obtaining government research
    grants and conflict of interest payment from
    disability insurance companies.


    The recent M.E. research is not necessarily related
    to the resignation of Sir Liam Donaldson from the
    post of Chief Medical Officer(CMO) together with the
    resignation of the chief executive of the Medical
    Research Council, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz.

    These resignations however give the present or next
    government a chance to clean house.



    Both these gentlemen have failed the thousands of
    patients who suffer from myalgic encephalomyelitis
    (M.E.), not only failed to recognize their disease but
    have gone one step further and labeled them as
    psychotic or neurotic.

    They have thus been deprived of proper treatment
    and relegated to a psychological cognitive training or
    worse still a Graded Exercise Therapy (GET), both of
    which are defined in medical literature as useless
    and in some cases dangerous.


    Both these gentlemen failed to react or examine the
    motives of psychiatrists promoting these methods.



    M.E. is a physical disease and British Medical
    establishment must recognize the fact and
    underwrite proper research rather that promote
    useless psychiatric methods.


    Yours Sincerely


    Dr Derek Enlander
    New York

    ReplyDelete