Profile avatar
stenhelmfrid.bsky.social
Ph.D. in physics, also interested in mathematics, science theory, and history. Follows research on ME/CFS. Stockholm, Sweden
43 posts 1,305 followers 44 following
Prolific Poster

Documentary: Five medical doctors open up about living with infection-associated chronic conditions: “They reflect on how becoming patients themselves radically changed their views on medicine, science, and what needs to change in healthcare.” #MECFS www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0yw...

People should know about ME/CFS, just as MS, Parkinson’s, and diabetes are common knowledge. When ME patients disclose their illness, they are often met with comments such as “I’m also tired”. Patients shouldn’t have to face such ignorance—it’s a severe illness. #MEAwarenessHour

#MECFS is a debilitating, neurological illness. Severe cases are like torture around the clock: pain, malaise, insomnia, sensitivity to sound, touch, and light. Some believe it’s just fatigue, but that doesn't even come close to describing the reality of ME/CFS. #MEAwarenessHour

From the Workshop on Postviral Ethics, 3 February 2025, organized by the Radboud Center for Philosophy and Society (RCPS) and Post-COVID Network Netherlands (PCNN). Quote by Prof. Dr. Georg Schomerus, University of Leipzig. #MECFS www.ru.nl/en/about-us/...

ME/CFS is a severe, neurological illness that imprisons affected people in their own bodies. Severely ill people are in constant pain, must rest in a dark and soundproof room due to sensory sensitivity, and are confined to bed nearly around the clock. #MECFS #MEAwarenessHour

The authors of the infamous #PACEtrial for #MECFS have argued that the graded exercise they promote does not use fixed increments. Vink et al.: “Our analysis of […] the PACE trial’s GET manual for therapists exposes the fixed incremental nature of GET.” www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/15...

Several studies show that #MECFS is one of the most debilitating chronic illnesses. Many patients have symptoms around the clock and have lost many of the things that really matter: social network, career, leisure activities etc. Your support may mean the world. #MEAwarenessHour

ME/CFS is not being able to fulfil your dreams. ME/CFS is pain. ME/CFS is social isolation. ME/CFS is never feeling refreshed in the morning. ME/CFS is economic disaster. ME/CFS affects tens of millions. ME/CFS should be a priority. Why is it not? #MECFS #MEAwarenessHour

Imagine if all the energy that #MECFS deniers have spent belittling patients and trying to invent new euphemisms for hypochondria were used to support patients and study the illness. There may still be no cure, but we would have come a long way! #MEAwarenessHour

“Reify” seems to be a buzzword among proponents of biopsychosocial view of #MECFS: “Diagnostic criteria don’t reify illness”. I would like to point out that miraculous recovery stories to provide “hope” don’t reify evidence-based treatments that lead to objective improvement.

Riksförbundet för ME-patienter har tillsammans med sju verksamma kliniker och forskare skrivit en replik på ett mycket problematiskt inlägg av Jörgen Malmquist och Lars Englund i AllmänMedicin om vården av personer med ME/CFS. #SvMECFS allmanmedicin.sfam.se/p/allmanmedi...

Trial by Error: Researchers and clinicians write to Cochrane about the exercise review on #MECFS: “The amended exercise therapy review continues to pose a risk to people with ME/CFS, including those with Long COVID who meet diagnostic criteria.” virology.ws/2025/02/20/t...

ME/CFS is a severely disabling neurological disease. It has been largely ignored by the medical community, despite the large scale of the problem. Pre-covid estimates suggest 50–60 million people affected worldwide—more than the entire population of Canada. #MEAwarenessHour

People with #MECFS suffer from post-exertional malaise, a general exacerbation of symptoms after physical or mental activity. Did you know that cells from #pwME that are stressed with saline water show a delayed response that is different from healthy controls? #MEAwarenessHour

Trial by Error: Professor Jonathan Edwards’ letter to the BMJ on the mess with the Cochrane review of exercise for people with #MECFS. virology.ws/2025/02/03/t...

Research paper: Post-Exertional Malaise in people with #MECFS evaluated by analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid. www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26...

Hilda Bastian blogs about the cancelled update of the Cochrane review of exercise therapy for #MECFS. absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/01/24/w...

#MECFS is a severe illness that affects tens of millions of people. To date, there is no cure and no understanding of the pathology. This challenge can be solved, if we put our minds to it and provide funding for research. In the meantime, patients need support. #MEAwarenessHour

Research paper: “Hippocampal alterations may contribute to the neurocognitive impairment experienced by long COVID and ME/CFS patients.” #MECFS journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Lysande krönika av Agnes Arpi: Svenska Covidföreningen JO-anmäler Socialstyrelsen för handläggningen av kunskapsstödet för postcovid och närliggande tillstånd. #SvMECFS www.altinget.se/artikel/sven...

Research paper: “These data identify T cell exhaustion as a component of ME, a finding which may provide a basis for future therapies, such as checkpoint blockade, metabolic interventions, or drugs that target chronic viral infections.” #MECFS pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39621903/

The criticism against the studies on CBT and exercise for patients with #MECFS has often been dismissed as an expression of anti-psychiatric sentiment. Did you know that many psychologists openly have rejected these trials and the psychologization of #pwME? #MEAwarenessHour

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Many people are isolated during the holidays due to chronic illness. #MECFS is one of the most disabling illnesses; 25% of the patients are either bedbound or homebound. Make a new year resolution to treat them with respect! #MEAwarenessHour

Today, December 21st, is Saint Thomas’s day. In Swedish folklore, it was the day when Christmas peace was announced. Today will be the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Tomorrow will be brighter!

#MECFS is a chronic, multi-system illness. Even though ME/CFS is severely disabling, many patients are dismissed by GPs. Did you know that the scientific basis has been reviewed by several expert committees, which all underline the serious nature of the illness? #MEAwarenessHour

Cochrane about the 2019 exercise review for #MECFS: ”We acknowledge that the publication of this amended review will not resolve all the ongoing questions about this globally important health topic.” Please sign this petition to retract the review! www.change.org/p/cochrane-w...

Trial by Error on the cancelled Cochrane review: “After jerking everyone around and promising for five years to conduct a new review of exercise interventions for the illness, the organization abruptly abandoned that commitment this week.” #MECFS virology.ws/2024/12/17/t...

Dr. Charles Shepherd, honorary medical adviser to the ME Association, talks about #MECFS and his personal experience with the illness. www.self.com/story/what-i...

Cochrane has decided not to update the report “Exercise therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome” due to insufficient new research in the field and a lack of resources to oversee this work. They have been dragging their feet for five years now, and this is it? 🙄 #MECFS www.cochrane.org/news/update-...

The #MEAction Network UK: “Today The Times and The Sunday Times reported on the SNP's pledge of £4.5 million, the first ever funding specifically for ME, and acknowledged our long campaign for ME to be recognised and treated in Scotland.” www.facebook.com/MEActNetUK/p...

Did you know that #MECFS is a severely debilitating illness that has been chronically underfunded in research? There are about 108,000 scientific papers on Alzheimer’s disease, 76,000 on Parkinson’s disease, 65,000 on multiple sclerosis, but only 6,000 on ME/CFS. #MEAwarenessHour

Some critics have cartooned #MECFS as alternate science. Did you know that there have been more than 6,000 papers on ME/CFS published in peer reviewed journals and that one current and one previous member of the OMF Scientific Advisory Board are Nobel laureates? #MEAwarenessHour

Professor Brian Hughes slams a flawed review on #longcovid therapies: “First thing to say is that with systematic reviews […] there is always one fundamental rule: namely, Garbage In = Garbage Out.” Always a pleasure to read his analyses! thesciencebit.net/2024/11/28/t...

#MECFS is a severe, chronic illness that dramatically limits the lives of those affected. It is not just “unexplained fatigue”. This paper, for example, shows that old age, BMI, smoking, and alcohol intake predict fatigue but not ME/CFS. #MEAwarenessHour www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This would be a more honest way to market the #LightningProcess for #MECFS!

Article on medical gaslighting by Shapiro and Hayburn: “Medical gaslighting as a mechanism for medical trauma: case studies and analysis.” link.springer.com/article/10.1...

So sorry to hear that Dr. James C. Coyne has passed away. www.legacy.com/us/obituarie...

Quote from Dr. David Putrino. #MECFS HT: MillionsMissing Stavanger on Facebook

#MECFS is not “medically unexplained fatigue”. It is a severely disabling, chronic illness characterized by post-exertional malaise, sleep reversals, fatigue not alleviated by rest, cognitive dysfunction, orthostatic intolerance, and a plethora of other symptoms. #MEAwarenessHour

A study of income and sick benefits for people with a diagnosis of G93.3 #MECFS confirms the chronicity of the illness. Patients started to lose income three years prior to the diagnosis and remained at a low level for the remaining 9 years of the study. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...