In this podcast, the topic is this week's episode of Dragon's Den in the UK. An entrepreneur pitched 'Acu Seeds' to the Dragons, M.E/C.F.S was centred in the pitch and the entrepreneur claimed her product had aided her recovery. We discuss the fallout and implications in this podcast ..read more

It is currently extremely difficult if not impossible to estimate the prevalence of M.E/C.F.S internationally. We explain why in this podcast. Check out stripylightbulb.com and sign up for our online training ..read more

Stripy Lightbulb CIC works to make M.E/C.F.S 'mainstream'. What do we mean by that and how do we do it? Sign up to learn about the disease - Stripylightbulb.com ..read more

In this episode, we talk about the recent announcement that NHS England has decided to 'deprioritise Long COVID'. Unfortunately, this is not unexpected with the two main political parties talking about getting 'economically inactive' people back to work. The political argument would be that Long COVID is now costing too much money in terms of research, 'support' and welfare costs. Now people living with Long OVID will be pushed back to work AND funding into research will be reduced. M.E/C.F.S history repeats. We are so sorry that this is happening with #LongCovid too. Since recording ..read more

In this episode, we talk about how our work often involves educating researchers about the need to screen for PEM if their study involves exercise or increased activity. Having a study 'approved by the ethics committee' doesn't mean anything if the committee does not understand the background of M.E/C.F.S in terms of many medics not believing in it as a disease, knowing how long it takes to get a M.E/C.F.S diagnosis (in the real world), or medics not knowing how to screen for the defining characteristic of the disease - Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).  There seems to be a big assumption ..read more

In this episode, we talk about how M.E/.F.S is known to fluctuate but it is less known that some patients can experience a steady deterioration over time. Our MD Sally Callow talks about this using her own lived experience. Sign up for our online training courses if you work in healthcare or education or are an employer. Stripylightbulb.com ..read more

Ordinarily, we wouldn't, as a training organisation on M.E/C.F.S, think about training gym instructors /owners about the disease. Exercise is contraindicated for ME/CFS. However, 46% of Long Covid patients meet the criteria for ME/CFS (but may still be undiagnosed and under the umbrella label of Long Covid) and are being referred by GPs to gyms and leisure centres for 'exercise-based rehab'. It is believed that up to 70% of Long Covid patients exhibit Post-Exertional Malaise, the key defining characteristic of M.E/C.F.S (though 24% may not have M.E/C.F.S) and the reason why ex ..read more

This episode tackles a sensitive but very important subject. Stripy Lightbulb CIC supports the vaccination rollout as a route out of the pandemic, however we also strongly believe that transparency about harms is vital. We are happy to give a voice to Kat Gower, an ME/CFS patient who has been harmed by Covid19 vaccination ..read more

We have heard anecdotally that Long Covid 'rehabilitation' is being outsourced to independent gym chains, personal trainers, and leisure centres. While this is fully understandable given the huge demand on NHS resources, we feel it is unacceptable given that these fitness instructors will not have received any training on Post-Exertional Malaise. A large chunk of Long Covid patients are experiencing PEM - the key defining characteristic of ME/CFS and the reason exercise is not recommended for ME/CFS patients. Update your knowledgebase on PEM and this type of energy-limiting disease. Sign up ..read more

This podcast is the audio from our Facebook 'live' earlier this week. This podcast covers -  - The N.I.CE M.E/C.F.S guidelines delay -  Scientific consensus - 'Eminence-based medicine' - How we see restructured CFS clinics working. - Potential future legal action Check out stripylightbulb.com to see our online training courses ..read more