Journal
HEALTHCARE
Volume 10, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10122438
Keywords
ME; CFS; understanding; diagnosis; management; disabling; stigma
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The new NICE guideline for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) brings significant changes to treatment recommendations, emphasizing individualized management and well-being. It rejects fixed incremental increases in physical activity and exercise, and only recommends cognitive-behavioral therapy as a supportive intervention.
The new NICE guideline for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), published in October 2021, makes significant changes in treatment recommendations. It acknowledges the complexity of this chronic medical condition, which always impacts quality of life and can be profoundly disabling, recognising the prejudice and stigma that people with ME/CFS often experience in the absence of any specific diagnostic test. The guideline outlines steps for accurate diagnosis, recognising post-exertional malaise as a core symptom; importantly, ME/CFS can now be diagnosed after just 3 months in a bid to improve long-term health outcomes. It recommends the need for individual, tailored management by a multi-disciplinary team, ensuring that the wellbeing of the individual is paramount. The guideline makes clear that any programme based on fixed incremental increases in physical activity or exercise, for example, graded exercise therapy (GET), should not be offered as a treatment for ME/CFS and emphasises that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) should only be offered as a supportive intervention. Because of the rigorous methodology required by NICE Committee review and the inclusion of the testimony of people with lived experience as committee members, this guideline will influence the future diagnosis and management of ME/CFS in the UK and beyond.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available