M.E. Does Kill!

Added: (Wed Jun 14 2006) http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Health/M.E._Does_Kill__71252.html

The landmark verdict of a coroner that M.E./CFS was instrumental in the death of a young woman was hailed by the charity Invest In M.E. The charity hopes that people will now regard Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.), otherwise known as CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), as the extremely serious (and potentially fatal) illness that it is.

Brighton Coroner’s Court, on 13th June 2006, held an inquest in to the tragic death of Sophia Mirza who was struck down with M.E. at the age of 26 and died in November last year at the age of 32.

Recording the narrative cause of death as “Acute Renal Failure arising as a result of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.)”, Coroner Miss Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said that Sophia had been an attractive and vigorous young woman until she was struck down by the illness. She suffered substantially, becoming effectively housebound and bed-ridden. Her Mother was her devoted carer. Eventually Sophia was unable to tolerate food or water and died.

Dr O’Donovan, the neuro-pathologist who examined Sophia’s spinal chord, reported that he had found evidence of inflammation in four out of five dorsal root ganglia and that further research was needed into M.E.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Criona Wilson, Sophia’s mother, said that her daughter had been starting to improve in health until she was forcibly taken away and locked in a secure Mental Hospital. This had happened because she had refused a place in an M.E. Clinic where the only treatment on offer was Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Graded Exercise Therapy. Sophia was aware that both these “treatments” have been proven to be harmful for people with severe M.E. and she felt her refusal was justified.

However, a psychiatrist, who considered that her refusal to go into this clinic was perverse, was instrumental in having Sophia “sectioned” against her will, despite the fact that she had been diagnosed with a neurological illness and not a psychiatric illness. Many psychiatrists currently refuse to accept the serious physical nature of M.E. and state that it is “merely a faulty illness belief”, or “somatoform disorder”.

The pathologist who gave evidence to the Court said, “This is a pathological condition. Psychiatrists were baffled by her illness but it lies more in the realms of neurology than psychiatry in my opinion.”

Emeritus Professor Malcolm Hooper, of the University of Sunderland, says that the treatment (or lack of it) of ME sufferers in the UK is a national scandal. In a synopsis of the problem for the on-going UK Parliamentary Inquiry into the illness, lead by Dr Ian Gibson MP, Prof Hooper says that it is time that the school of psychiatrists who perpetuate the myth that M.E. is a “non-disease” are held publicly accountable. Sophia’s mother couldn’t agree more.

It is estimated that 250,000 people in the UK suffer M.E., of which 60,000 (one quarter of the people) are severely affected and bed-bound, like Sophia, and suffer agonising symptoms that can involve every major body system.

As a result of this verdict, Mrs Wilson and Invest in M.E. are calling for the Department of Health to warn medical practitioners of the serious nature of M.E and also establish funding of bio-medical research into the causes and treatment of this devastating illness.

http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Health/M.E._Does_Kill__71252.html