Paul Garner
@PaulGarnerWoof
Medical epidemiologist & public health professional Professor emeritus, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Clarivate Highly Cited Reseacher 2023 and 2024
#LongCovid Hope and recovery. These are important messages. People find their own way and here's mine. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
PACE trial was co-designed with Action for ME from a patient derived question. Trial results showed adaptive pacing inferior to CBT & GET. The RESULT led to attempts to discredit the study: an example of extreme belief disconfirmation bias. #mecfs
David Tuller failed to discredit the PACE trial and his criticisms are nothing more than his misinformed opinions. The more he writes the more I see him for who he is - a sensationalist blogger. The PACE trial authors have already discredited all of Tuller’s accusations.
I believe NICE ME/CFS guidance harms patients with misinformation. Here is one: keeping people with ME/CFS in the dark, implying the condition is permanent, and disallowing brain retraining and cognitive approaches other than helping people cope. @NICEComms
"Chronicity rhetoric" underpins the UK NICE ME/CFS guidance. The word "recover" appears ONCE and then implies relapse. @NICEComms contributes to a discourse that creates barriers to recovery. Shame on you.
“Our brains are wired to protect us — especially from threatening situations,” said Dr. Loren Martin. “But sometimes that protective system stays switched on — leaving us overly sensitive to stress or pain, even when the threat is long gone. neurosciencenews.com/fear-pain-ptsd…
More sensible advice from the American Heart Association for #LongCovid
Sensible guidelines from the Ozzies #MECFS racgp.org.au/clinical-resou…
#LongCovid improvement due to time. reddit.com/r/LongHaulersR…
So sad to hear this news about a truly great man-made such an impact on global public health COVID-19 special envoy David Nabarro dies at 75 - reuters.com/business/healt…
I feel badly let down by the charities who were providing advice and support when I was ill. I know many others feel the same. It's time to have an open conversation about that. I don't want anyone else to go through what I did.
Biomedical research is full of hypotheses; no field has all the answers yet. But my point stands: bias-driven doctors denying patient recoveries by saying they ‘never had ME/CFS’ cause real harm. Lived experience deserves respect alongside science. Wouldn’t you agree @grok?
The number of recovered people is growing month by month. That's what I care about more than anything. I am in touch with people who were severely ill for years who are making meaningful recoveries with the right support
People who interpret #mecfs as purely biomedical frequently discount "mind-body" interventions as "think positive". This is incorrect. It's about changing your understanding of the meaning of the symptoms. And that takes time and work. This is a good summary…
And I will say again: The PACE trial evaluated negotiated GET. It was not FORCED fixed increments. GET must be used in combination with a change in belief in what the symptoms mean: #mecfs is a psychophysiological condition, although this feels counterintuitive
Chronicity rhetoric is toxic: "The Sick Times" exemplifies this. Obviously there are biological changes in #mecfs #longcovid but nocebo amplifies. See this from 2 years ago onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/je…
An amazing group of people who have recovered from #mecfs #LongCovid are celebrating today as RECOVERY DAY! to highlight recovery is possible and counter the chronicity rhetoric tinyurl.com/a6rz78ac
"Chronicity rhetoric" in #MEcfs #longcovid shapes beliefs, influences unconcious expectations, and creates barriers to healing: predictive coding is important. Medics unaware of biopsychosocial approaches and the charities in #MECFS that deride it should be challenged.
A friend who recovered from #mecfs said a diagram to explain her symptoms would have helped her in her recovery. This one is good. This RCT dramatically reduced symptoms, improved physical functioning and halved sick leave. Lots about the intervention in the annex-obv. more than…
