Chronic fatigue guidance discouraging exercise is flawed, say researchers

New guidance for doctors discouraging them from recommending exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue patients is not evidence based, according to researchers.

A study questions the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) review process for this guideline for clinicians dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) patients and its use of scientific standards in considering the evidence.

One of the study’s lead authors, Prof Trudie Chalder from the psychiatry department at King’s College London said: “The decision to change the guideline has had a direct effect on doctors’ and therapists’ ability to treat patients. Services are no longer able to provide a full range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions.

“This could have a devastating impact on people’s lives in that they will no longer be able to access the treatment that could help them the most.”

ME, also called CFS, is a long-term condition believed to affect about 25,000 people in the UK, which has a wide range of symptoms including extreme tiredness, muscle pain, mental fogginess and insomnia.

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Source: The Guardian, 11 July 2023