What’s wrong with the PACE trial anyway?
There have been many comprehensive analyses of the controversial PACE trial data over the last few years, but with Long Covid becoming a growing concern, and sharing many similarities with ME/CFS, what follows is an accessible “primer” for anyone new to the area.
This article explains why many doctors, researchers, and patients object to the PACE trial recommendations of Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as treatments for ME/CFS, and why Long Covid groups are now discovering the same.
What is ME/CFS?
ME/CFS is a chronic illness that affects the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems, and for which there is currently no cure. It commonly begins after a virus, and of the 15–30 million sufferers worldwide, 25% are housebound or bedbound, and 75% are unable to work.
Its symptoms include widespread pain, loss of cognitive function, paralysis, vertigo, sensitivity to sound, light, and touch, nervous system and digestive dysfunction, and much more. Despite being more commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, its cardinal symptom isn’t simply fatigue, but Post Exertional Malaise, a profound worsening of symptoms after exertion.
