Readers respond to George Monbiot’s article about how those with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, have been failed by the health system
George Monbiot (Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed, 24 September) is right about one important thing: people with severe ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome) deserve much better care than many have received. But two different questions are being conflated: how patients have been treated, and what the evidence tells us about the causes and treatment of ME/CFS.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence no longer recommends the old form of graded exercise therapy, in which activity was increased according to a predetermined schedule regardless of symptoms.
