You can find the recording of this event on this page. You can also access the handout for this talk prepared by our guest.
Many thanks to Charles for his virtual visit to Sheffield!
We are delighted to be hosting Dr Charles Shepherd, Honorary Medical Adviser of the ME Association, for a talk and Q&A on the new NICE guideline on ME/CFS. Over the past 30 years, Dr Shepherd has built up extensive clinical and research interest in ME/CFS and has been a fervent advocate for people living with the condition. Find out more information about Dr Shepherd in the section below.
About the event
This event is particularly aiming at healthcare professionals, but anyone with experience or interest in the subject is welcome to join. The new NICE guideline was published in October 2021 after years of campaigning from patients and advocates. It covers the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, and contains important changes compared to the previous version.
The event will consist of a 20 min presentation from Dr Shepherd followed by a Q&A session. We will take questions from Zoom participants via the chat, and from comments on the Facebook live stream.
Dr Shepherd's presentation will include:
Introduction to the new NICE guideline on ME/CFS, and how it was developed
Key differences with the 2007 guideline
How to diagnose ME/CFS
How to best support patients: specialist referrals and different aspects of management
Implementation of the guideline
The event will be hosted on Zoom, live streamed on our Facebook page, recorded and uploaded on our website and Youtube channel, where you can also find all our previous talks.
Please have a look at the handout for this talk prepared by Dr Charles Shepherd.
The new NICE guideline on ME/CFS
You can find the complete guideline on ME/CFS here.
A 28-page long ME Association summary written by Dr Shepherd has been produced and can be downloaded here.
We hope this event will help clarify what this new guideline means for healthcare professionals.
About Dr Charles Shepherd
Over the course of the past 30 years, Dr Shepherd has built up an extensive clinical and research interest in ME/CFS - in particular the role of vaccinations as trigger factors (for which he collected a remarkable patient database) and the role of mitochondrial dysfunction (where research involving his own skeletal muscle provided the first published evidence of a problem with muscle energy metabolism).
In addition to having personal experience of ME (which followed a chickenpox encephalitis), Dr Shepherd has been:
Medical Adviser to the ME Association for around 20 years
Member of the (2002) Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group on ME/CFS
Member of the MRC Expert Group on ME/CFS
Member of the NICE guideline committee on ME/CFS
Some of his additional current roles are:
Membership of the Board of the CMRC (UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative)
Chairman of the ME Biobank Steering Group
Member of the ME/CFS post mortem research group
Member of the DWP Fluctuating Medical Conditions Group
Representing the MEA on the Forward ME group of charities
Author of numerous publications on ME/CFS
You can find here a podcast from the 18/02/2022 with Dr Charles Shepherd about ME/CFS and the new NICE guideline.
Sheffield ME and Fibromyalgia Group is a small registered charity providing support to people of all ages living with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and long covid, and raising awareness about the conditions.
If you wish to give a little something to our charity to support our work, please visit this page: Donate.
Many thanks!