Getting Doctors Up to Speed on ME/CFS
Sunday March 23, 2008
You're probably well aware that we don't have enough doctors studying and treating chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS), and now consider this: they're an aging bunch, with some already retired and many more on the verge. But who is taking their place?
Leading ME/CFS researcher Charles Lapp, MD, brought up this issue in a recent live chat at ProHealth.
So what can we do about it? Dr. Lapp recommends that we each contact the CFIDS Association, the IACFS/ME, local support groups and other support/advocacy groups and encourage them to develop a training program for doctors.
Meanwhile, if you can't find a doctor who's trained to treat ME/CFS, help them become trained! Here are the resources you need for that:
- The CDC Provider Course and downloadable CFS Toolkit
- The CFIDS Association's online training course
- Dr. Lapp's downloadable Quick Start program for primary care providers.
- Contact the IACFS/ME speaker's bureau to arrange someone to speak at a local meeting
Have you tried to educate your doctor? Did it go well? Has your doctor used any of the above resources? Share your experiences here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS forum.
Comments
Having had ME/CFS and Fibro for nearly 25 years, I feel like I’ve seen it all. I probably haven’t but I’ve talked with hundreds of other patients, attended or led scores of support group meetings, written countless newsletters and I can tell you that while all of the information supplied in this article can be helpful, there is one document that goes further to help.
The Canadian ME/CFS Clinical Case Definition and Physicians Guide offers so much more for the doctor who has a genuine interest in learning how to recognize, diagnose and treat an ME/CFS patient. You can review this document at:
http://www.mefmaction.net/Portals/0/docs//ME-CFS%20Overview.04-07.pdf
Printed out, its around 25 pages or about 12-13 pieces of paper. That’s not much considering how complicated this disorder is.
Countless books have been written about CFS but we now know that a large percentage of those who were diagnosed with the concocted name of CFS actually had/have myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.).
Granny