Just My Honest Opinion

Have you been paying attention to the U.S. Congress lately? Noticed that since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, they've not done anything noteworthy that would create progress on any major problem? The reason: gridlock. What causes gridlock in Congress? Two groups that won't budge on their position, even in the slightest, so that an agreement, a compromise, can be reached. Those are called "hardliners." Illegal immigration reform is a primary example. G.W. Bush tried it; Obama; even McCain tried it. According to Wikipedia, the last time Congress made any change to immigration law was in 1986. Let's see, that's 29 years ago. They tried in 2005 with a reform bill passing the House, and in 2006 with a reform bill that passed the Senate. So why didn't it get signed? The two bills were different and the committees could not come to an agreement. It died in Congress, particularly in Congressional committees. No progress. Status quo. Problems continue....

When I think of the title of this blog post, Goldilocks comes to mind. A criteria for a disease should strike a balance between sensitivity (not leaving out those who have the illness) and specificity (not including those who have something else). It should be just right. But, what is just right with ME/CFS? What elements are needed in that porridge and at what temperature so that it is nutritional and pleasing? Jennie Spotila did a pretty good job of assessing the new SEID criteria and some questions it raises. So I made a comment on her blog . She particularly addresses the fear patients have expressed that the criteria will mean depressed people will mistakenly be diagnosed with SEID (systemic exertion intolerance disease, the proposed new name for ME/CFS). SEID criteria requires three things: Loss of function accompanied with fatigue Unrefreshing sleep Post-exertional malaise Then it requires at least one of the following: orthostatic intolerance or cognitive dysfun...