Not just out of shape
A weekly nugget or two of pain science news and ideas for patients and pros, usually 400–1000 words. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.
The severely flawed PACE trial (2011) claimed to show that chronic fatigue syndrome patients are just de-conditioned and just need to suck it up and exercise (and get psychotherapy). It was evidence-based medicine at its worst: one influential study drowning out contradictory evidence…and patient voices.
It has become the most extreme example of telling very sick people that their illness is “all in your head.”
Julie Rehmeyer and David Tuller’s NYT piece is an excellent summary of this debacle: Getting It Wrong on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.