For Clinicians

IACFSME: For Healthcare Professionals

Extensive list of resources available to clinicians, including diagnosis, clinical criteria, treatment and management, disability, pediatric ME/CFS, continuing education and more.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Essentials of Diagnosis and Management

Twenty-one clinicians specializing in ME/CFS have convened to discuss best clinical practices for adults affected by ME/CFS. This article summarizes their top recommendations for generalist and specialist health care providers based on recent scientific progress and decades of clinical experience. There are many steps that clinicians can take to improve the health, function, and quality of life of those with ME/CFS, including those in whom ME/CFS develops after COVID-19. Patients with a lingering illness that follows acute COVID-19 who do not fully meet criteria for ME/CFS may also benefit from these approaches.

ME Association: Medical Matters

Medical Matters features questions asked by Members of the ME Association on health-related topics. Dr Charles Shepherd and the ME Association’s other advisers answer these questions by sharing their expert knowledge. Medical Matters is based on the popular ‘Ask the Doctor’ series in ME Essential magazine.

Guide to developing undergraduate ME/CFS Medical Education. A useful guide.

Recommended ME/CFS resources for medical educators and physicians. A collection of papers. 

ME/CFS: A Primer for Clinical Practitioners

The International Association of ME/CFS has developed a primer for clinical practitioners, which they have made freely available. In this Primer, the collected wisdom of many experienced clinicians and clinician-scientists has been gathered. Here, you’ll find advice on how to diagnose ME/CFS, and on therapies that appear to be beneficial, although not curative.

Primer features: Exclusionary tests that should be performed, differential diagnoses, how to make an accurate diagnosis, evidence-based treatments for primary symptoms, management strategies, pathophysiology, clinical concerns, pediatric ME/CFS, etiology, and extensive appendices.

The Young Persons’ ME/CFS Primer

This pediatric primer was developed to cover the many unique aspects of the diagnosis and management of pediatric ME/CFS. The text was developed by consensus of the members of International Writing Group for Pediatric ME/CFS, who have made every effort to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date.

The published literature on pediatric ME/CFS is modest. Many studies on ME/CFS have only enrolled adults. Where it has been helpful, we have sometimes cited studies in adults and this is explained in the text. Where published studies are lacking, our recommendations are based on the clinical expertise of experienced medical practitioners.

This primer covers all aspects of the disease, including cardinal features, symptoms, presentation, prognosis, diagnosis, pathophysiology, etiology as well as worksheets, exclusionary tests, overlapping conditions and information relevant to clinicians in the treatment and management of ME/CFS in young people.

 

ME/CFS Medical Education Campaign

The ME/CFS Medical Education Campaign aims to encourage evidence-based medical education on ME/CFS by raising awareness among medical students, medical educators, and institutions. They are based in the UK, but they aim to provide resources that will be useful to clinicians, educators and students overseas as well.

 

US ME/CFS Clinician Coalition

The US ME/CFS Clinician Coalition has launched a new website to provide clinicians with high quality information on the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The Coalition is committed to improving clinical care for patients with ME/CFS by advancing best clinical practices, providing education for the medical community, expanding the pool of medical providers with strong expertise in ME/CFS, and providing clinical insights for researchers.

 

Medical considerations when treating urgently ill patients with underlying myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

The intention of this handout is to provide basic advice and medical/scientific information about ME/CFS that can inform medical decisions in urgent, emergent, or hospital settings. Each page builds upon the next and has been separated for ease of review.

 

ME/CFS: Doctors with ME: Top Tips Handout for Doctors

How to diagnose ME/CFS, core symptoms, and how to provide support.

 

Clinical Screening Decision Tree for ME/CFS and LC

Screening for PEM/PESE is an essential skill for healthcare professionals. This handout guides professionals through a decision tree, patient symptom questionnaire, and screening tools to help determine if their patient has PEM.

 

US ME/CFS Clinician Coalition Recommendations for ME/CFS Testing and Treatment, April 13, 2021. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yu79EYxQIwNVER5tErp7LH7KY8pI8S_e/view

 

Pacing and Management Guide for ME/CFS and Long COVID

The updated version of this useful guide contains concise descriptions of the illnesses and their symptoms, and provides guidance for pacing to help prevent post-exertional malaise (PEM). Citations to the relevant literature and other resources are listed.

The Diagnosis and Management of ME/CFS – The Mayo Clinic’s concise review describes a generalist approach to ME/CFS, including diagnosis, evaluation, and management strategies.

US ME/CFS Clinician Coalition – Clinical Management

How the Basics of PT & OT Can Help People with ME/CFS. https://batemanhornecenter.org/how-the-basics-of-pt-ot-can-help-people-with-me-cfs/

VIDEO: Pacing for PEM/PESE (Bateman Horne Center) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssqBD1-AcII

VIDEO: When a patient has a damaged or broken aerobic energy system, they cannot produce the same level of energy that they once did. So, patients try to do activities they once tolerated, but now they can’t produce enough energy for that task. Their body goes into the lactic acid system, and they start to have neurologic and other PEM/PESE related symptoms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSe6LPVLDM

VIDEO: The second video in the education series for rehab professionals, explains the red flags of PEM and how physical and occupational therapists must modify their treatment plan for individuals with post-exertional malaise (PEM). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qZVF9lxfM