Proposed guidelines for management of myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), from the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are being hailed for their rejection of graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) as routine treatment. Major medical organizations, advocacy groups, and patients have strongly advocated for NICE to align guidelines with scientific evidence.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2017 eliminated these largely useless and, in some cases, harmful therapies from its recommendations. That NICE is now following suit is good news, though many say it is long overdue. Moreover, patients are unlikely to see immediate results as new science can take years to reach clinical practice.
The illness is characterized by debilitating fatigue and difficulty with concentration and memory. An estimated 2.5 million Americans are diagnosed with ME/CFS, most of them women. Because symptoms can range widely and standard laboratory tests yield little insight as to cause, ME/CFS has been viewed as a stress-induced disorder in some women.
Graded exercise therapy and CBT became the go-to therapies for ME/CFS based on findings of a 2011 study, known as PACE, published in the Lancet. According to the study investigators, these treatments produced a sustained improvement in patients' levels of fatigue and physical function, even leading to recovery for some. Top researchers who reviewed the study, however, found major flaws. Patients also reacted negatively, saying the study's results did not reflect their experiences and reinforced inaccurate and stigmatizing beliefs about the illness as a psychological and behavioral disorder. Eventually, over 100 academics, patient groups, and others called for an independent reanalysis of the data. Despite this forceful opposition, the study remained influential with clinicians and continued to underpin treatment recommendations of major medical organizations, including the CDC and NICE.
Perceptions began to change with the 2015 release of the Institute of Medicine's landmark report, Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness, in which the authors described ME/CFS as a "serious, chronic, complex, systemic disease" and cited newly identified biomarkers indicating immunological and neurological dysfunction. The report and continuing pressure from scientists, clinicians, and patients led the CDC to remove recommendations for graded exercise therapy and CBT as its British counterpart, NICE, now proposes to do.-Karen Roush, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, news director