#MEAction recently interviewed Dr. Michael VanElzakker regarding two, new studies on ME/CFS. The first aims to discover evidence of increased activity where the sensory vagus nerve enters the brainstem – a subtle effect that requires some intricate scans. In order to measure the activity in the vagus nerve, Dr. VanElzakker will use a scanner that
21st Century Cures Act Passes House with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support ME/CFS advocates have been eagerly awaiting passage of the 21st Century Cures Act since it was initially introduced in 2013, given it was originally written to increase NIH funding and fast-track research and treatment development. On Wednesday, November 30, a compromise bill with modified provisions from the original 21st Century Cures Act swept the House… READ MORE
Carol Head has just been honored by O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine, as one of fourteen 2017 Health Heroes, “visionaries who are healing bodies, minds, and communities.” “Although we would have preferred a more substantive piece (and inclusion of “myalgic encephalomyelitis,” or ME, as our disease name),” Solve ME/CFS said in a statement yesterday, “we are
Australia’s UNSW is trialling an education module treating chronic fatigue syndrome patients with graded exercise therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (GET/CBT), despite the evidence showing these therapies have no benefit and may cause permanent harm. Sign the petition!
As reported in the August 5 update on the meeting between HHS and advocates for ME on August 1, Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Karen DeSalvo had committed to follow up on specific actions and meet again in October. On October 24, Jen Brea, Terri Wilder, Carol Head, Jennie Spotila, and Mary Dimmock met again
After years of work and hundreds of hours of footage, Jen Brea’s documentary, now entitled Unrest, is ready for its debut. The film will be shown at the Sundance Resort as part of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017; Brea’s Unrest was selected to premier as one of the Festival’s narrative documentaries. The Sundance
These demands were originally issued for the May 25, 2016 MillionsMissing demonstrations. Minor revisions were made to the demands in November 2016 to reflect community input on the definition, the primer, the name, and the need for improvements in clinical care. You can access and download a pdf of the revised protest demands by clicking
M.E. denier, Edward Shorter, called CFS the modern version of hysteria in a presentation chronicling the history of 19th century hysteria before approximately 20 people at the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Nov. 9th. Shorter is a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Toronto. In his presentation, Shorter showed a
Dr. Komaroff’s Webinar Provides His Hypothesis, Hot Research and Hope Link to webinar: https://youtu.be/ENrdrGj0p-c by Darla N. In a webinar the Solve ME/CFS Initiative hosted on Nov. 10, Dr. Anthony Komaroff presented his hypothesis on ME’s cause and five popular areas of current ME research. Komaroff, Simcox-Clifford-Higby professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and senior
On Thursday, November 3, Dr. Maureen Hanson shared a screenshot revealing a planned talk on November 9th at the NIH by the historian Dr. Edward Shorter titled “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Historical Perspective.” Dr. Shorter has a long history of treating patients with ME with disdain and denial, as illustrated in an article he wrote for
