BBC highlights criticism of claims from neurologist that Long COVID is psychosomatic; and debate over "functional somatic disorder" in Frontiers in Medicine
virology.ws/2026/04/21/t...

Oxfam's reaction to today's #FAC.

www.oxfam.org/en/press-rel...

A friend of mine a #pwME for 30+ years was diagnosed with early onset dementia 6 yrs ago
Her carer/husband📧me to tell me that unable to give her the care she needs she's now spending her last days in a care home
Another #pwME who never saw recognition for #ME, care or treatment💔

Emma Shorter was told people who don’t recover from behavioral treatment for #MECFS have made the illness their personality. She was told not to meet other patients and to trust the therapist over her own body. She went from walking 4 mins a day to needing a wheelchair.

Apparently.... Indefinitely 🤷🏻‍♂️

Frontiers | Endothelial and cardiac dysfunction in long COVID With cardiovascular symptoms is associated with imbalance in the ADMA–DDAH–NOx pathway BackgroundPost-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) commonly feature lingering symptoms of persistent cardiovascular pathology, yet the mechanisms remain incomp...

www.frontiersin.org/journals/car...

Many Drs & HCPs still believe that the advice that Emma was given, which made her #ME so much worse, is the correct advice
They're supported in many cases by the Royal Colleges, who refuse to support the '21 @nicecomms.bsky.social g'lines for #ME
Healthcare is still unsafe for #pwME

Why can't the government trust headteachers to make their own decisions on things like phones? What if a school decides they can integrate or use phones in a good way, or it's not an issue for them? Why must the government always dictate?

Tax justice isn’t just about who pays, it’s about who gets paid.

Public cash going to the best‑connected— regardless of questionable value, ethics & tax practices— is leaving us short‑changed financially & morally.

Our ED Faiza Shaheen in The New Statesman:
www.newstatesman.com/comment/2026...

Aha! A fellow engineer. You don't hear people talk about ballasts much these days, do you? 😂

Oh that's good. I find it has a similar impact to being in a noisy environment. Mines the highest pitched sound you can imagine. The noise old fluorescent lights used to make.
But attention on something else really does help.
I'm hoping ME will end a bit like Day of the Triphids.
Sea Water 😂

Do you ever get a single day with it Ann? I remember one day last year, I was walking down my garden thinking how wonderfully peaceful it seemed and then realised why. But never since.

In Pursuit of Understanding the Crash What Post-Exertional Physiology Tells Us About ME/CFS

"Recovery-focused studies show ME/CFS patients report return-to-baseline times averaging nearly two weeks after a standardized physical exertion compared with around 48 hours in healthy, deconditioned controls."
likeannopeningbandforthesun.substack.com/p/in-pursuit...

Suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement Now.

A Super-duper El Niño lurks below the Equatorial Pacific Ocean surface, with a large section of the ocean showing a temperature anomaly of >5°C.

Wait for it:

The UK CEO of Palantir is Louis Mosley, the grandson of British Union of Fascists leader Oswald Mosley.

For the #ME orgs
especially, most recently
@meassociation.org.uk

#pwME #MEAwareness #MEcfs

Motorists will be required to install black boxes in their vehicles and download an application to the mobile phone of every person who drives the car. Vehicles will be fitted with telematics equipment that tracks driving conduct, including velocity and braking habits, producing a weekly rating of green, amber or red.

Those who receive four red ratings over 12-month timeframe could face removal from the Motability programme. A pilot scheme in Northern Ireland last year resulted in vehicles being taken away from 300 individuals. The scheme has now confirmed that if someone receives a 'red' week alert, followed by the same rating for two successive weeks, they could lose their car.

Motability has confirmed it will capture and transmit a driver's exact position heading and present velocity; trip length; braking and turning manoeuvres; mobile telephone use, including handset make and identification number and software platform, while behind the wheel: and device background positioning via network and GPS. In a fresh statement Motability has acknowledged that 'high usage' during a week can trigger a red alert. but stressed there are 'no limits' on the number of journeys. The organisation added that if elevated usage alone prompts a red score, 'it will not impact the lease'

This is a human rights issue. You can't have different laws for #disabled people leasing a car, than you would have if an able person leases a car.

#Disability #Motability #Pip

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/cost-of...

Looks as if people are maybe what would normally be reported in December slips into January. Possibly people lifted by their seasonal December break and then back to work in January?

Mayor Mamdani and President Obama read a picture book to a group of children.

Mayor Mamdani and President Obama chat and laugh with a group of children.

Mayor Mamdani and President Obama chat and laugh.

Children hug Mayor Mamdani.

Today, President Barack Obama and I read to a group of toddlers at Learning Through Play Pre-K Center in the South Bronx. 

In between singing wheels on the bus, we discussed our administration’s vision for this City — one where New York’s Cutest have the strongest start possible.

Hope4MEFibroNI

They are all on the channel here:

youtube.com/@hope4mefibr...

Two other big findings: those with early onset were much more likely to be severe or very severe (odds ratio 2.4) and those with close relatives with ME/CFS we're more likely to have early onset.

Trial By Error: Final (Berkeley) Chapter 2026 Help UC Berkeley raise $75,000 for the project: Trial By Error: Final (Berkeley) Chapter 2026. Your gift will make a difference!

Berkeley's final crowdfunder for Trial By Error has almost reached 150 donations and 25% of the goal!!!

crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/49720

UK agency finds stark inequalities in health protection Chances of hospital admission with infectious disease strongly linked to factors such as ethnicity and deprivation, report says

‘People living in the 20% most deprived areas in England are almost twice as likely to be admitted to hospital due to infectious diseases than the least deprived.’

Health inequalities are structural and interlinked with social factors such as poverty, housing and employment
on.ft.com/42GYjhH

BBC Feedback | Response to Suzanne O’Sullivan YouTube video by Broken Battery

BBC Radio 4 Feedback full segment. Listeners share their concerns about Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan’s claim that #LongCOVID is psychosomatic. Includes an interview with @NickyProctor (11 mins)
youtu.be/Du4devaRH5w?...

Are you a GP who needs to update your knowledge?
👇

Israel has no right to invade and occupy.
These are just greedy & aggressive land grabs IMO.
This won’t bring around peace unless Lebanon is eliminated, which is perhaps the goal now that Gaza worked out so nice for them.

Oxfam reaction to 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

www.oxfam.org/en/press-rel...

Verified videos show Israeli controlled demolitions in southern Lebanon

Videos are on BBC website linked above.

😬🙏