News | The ME Association- Part 186

Eric Smart, our Aberdeen-Australia cyclist, posted a new blog overnight – but still leaves a bit of a  mystery about exactly where he is.

A new website designed to give patients a greater say on healthcare in Sheffield has been launched. Sheffieldhealth.co.uk has been created by the Central Sheffield GP Consortium to provide up-to-date healthcare information and advice for patients, as well as providing hosting online surveys, allowing them to air their views about services in the city.

Bernard Speakman, treasurer of the Worcestershire ME Group, will be at Buckingham Palace tomorrow (November 27) to attend the Victim Support Volunteer of the Year Awards ceremony hosted by the Princess Royal.

… The Lightning Process!

Professor Stephen Holgate, chair of the Medical Research Council’s new advisory panel on ME/CFS, has been booked by the Dorset ME Support Group to speak on the need for a national research strategy for the illness.

Thanks to all who bought tickets this year – which were circulated with our quarterly ME Essential magazine. The winners were Miss N Sismey of Spalding (£250), Claire Moore of Glasgow (£150) and Tina Lockton of Leicester (£50).

The letter appeared yesterday (November 20) under the headline  ‘I believe there is a cure for ME: I’ve tested it’  The Lightning Process – Another miracle cure for ME?   Zena Gibson (letters 20 November) believes that ME is caused by raised levels of the stress hormone adrenaline and that it can be cured by an expensive 3 day […]

From Gair Rhydd, Cardiff’s Student Weekly, 17 November 2008 Emma McFarnon investigates the frequently misunderstood illness, ME

The first in an occasional series being put on The ME Association website. For four years I’ve been suffering with ME and for four years I’ve been trying to describe it to non-sufferers. I’ve compared it to a permanent flu, to a never-ending marathon, to insomnia with eventual pointless sleep.

The Government said it will look again at its system for avoiding risks from crop pesticides after an environmental campaigner won a landmark ruling that the current measures contravene European law.

We’re receiving a lot of inquiries about whether people with ME/CFS should be having flu vaccinations. To see our updated information leaflet on the subject, which covers all aspects of flu vaccine,  please use our downloadable order which can be found here. The leaflet is on page 3.

"I’ve think we’ve been taken prisoner,", I told Ed. "Well, there’s not a lot we can do about it", he said. Just a week before, the possibility of being surrounded by armed men would have filled me with dread but I seemed to have developed Ed’s "Oh, we’ll worry about it in the morning" attitude.

The MEA has just been informed that BBC ‘Reporting Scotland’ (TV) will be doing their item on Mickel Therapy on the news programme being put out at 1.30pm today (Friday 14 November), and probably on the early evening (6pm) news programme as well.   BBC TV Scotland website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/ BBC 1 Scotland can be viewed […]

The man who killed ME campaigner Kevin Tripp with a single blow in a London supermarket this summer is to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on December 5.

This is a short summary of key points to emerge from a full day meeting of The ME Association Board of Trustees that took place at our Head Office in Buckingham on Friday 7 November 2008.  Informal discussions involving trustees also took place on a number of issues the night before.    Please note that this […]

Dr Ben Goldacre’s (possibly rather controversial) programme on Incapacity Benefit reform, and the tough new government policy on sickness benefits, will be transmitted at 8pm on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 10 November. More information about the programme here. To read or join in the discussion on the programme, click here.

The deadline for comments on the draft terms of reference for the APPG Inquiry into English NHS service provision is Friday 14 November 2008.

A major change in work related benefits for sick and disabled people takes place on Monday 27 October with the introduction of the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The new benefit is likely to make it harder for sick and disabled people to claim work related benefits, and the aim is to significantly reduce the […]

     Eric Smart back on the road in Italy They make ’em tough in Scotland! Our Aberdeen-Australia cyclist, Eric Smart, has recovered from a broken collarbone after taking a tumble from his bike in Italy. 

New guidance from the UK Department of Health provides a comprehensive list of conditions where treatment with immunoglobulin may or may not be  appropriate. CFS, which is listed under neurology, is a condition where immunoglobulin is NOT recommended.