The following is an updated version of an article written for the autumn 2017 issue of Breakthrough magazine. As you will see, recent developments mean that the story now has a potentially happier ending. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced on 20th September 2017 that it is planning a full update of its guideline on the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME. ME Research UK is delighted with this news because we...

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Dr J. Gordon Parish, aged 92, on September 13th at his home in the village of Stanley in rural Perthshire. Dr Parish was one of the group of trustees who founded ME Research UK (originally called MERGE) in 2000, becoming a valued patron thereafter. Without his intellectual and financial support, particularly in the very early days, the charity would not have survived and prospered. He was...

Minutes of the meeting held at House of Lords, Tuesday 11th July 2017, 2pm Present: Countess of Mar (Chairman); Janice and Bill Kent (reMEmber); Dr Charles Shepherd (ME Association); Clare Ogden (AFME); Jane Colby (TYMES); Tony Crouch (representing the 25% Group and TYMES Trust); Christine Harrison (BRAME); and Sue Waddle (ME Research UK). In Attendance: Professor Diane O’Leary, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington DC....

Minutes of the meeting held in the Television Interview Room, House of Lords, Thursday 22 June 2017, 10am Present: Countess of Mar (Chairman); Dr Charles Shepherd (ME Association); Bill & Janice Kent (reMEmber); Tony Crouch (representing 25% Group and TYMES) and Clare Ogden (AFME). In Attendance: Professor Kamila Hawthorne and Fiona Erasmus (Royal College of General Practitioners). Apologies had been received from Sue Waddle (MERUK), Cath...

Massive thanks to all who entered our Spring Prize Draw. Lynsay (Management Support Officer, PKAVS) was kind enough to draw the winning tickets. First prize of £500 was won by AG of Dunfermline, second prize of £150 by KH of Hexham and third prize of £50 by JYH, Southampton. Profits form the Spring Prize Draw 2017 have been credited to our Research Account – 100% of which is dedicated to funding biomedical research into ME/CFS. Details of our...

  The electronic version of our Spring 2017 Breakthrough magazine is now online. Download a pdf or read it online. The contents include ME Research UK-funded research on heart volume and function in ME/CFS, and DNA pooling to identify new biomarkers; short items on research funding levels, telomere shortening, and acute phase proteins; and many shorter ‘research bites’. The magazine is free to patients and their families,...