A major national investigation into chronic fatigue syndrome is to be launched, it has been announced – as one study shows that a private treatment is promising.
The review has been launched by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence following pressure from patient groups.
It came as the Archives of Disease in Childhood today reports promising findings from a treatment known as the Lightning Process.
The three-day programme costs £620 and is not available on the NHS – and enrols about 250 children a year.
It combines concepts from osteopathy, life coaching and neurolinguistic programming with the aim of teaching children to use the brain to improve their health.
Bristol University researchers studied some 100 children with mild to moderate chronic fatigue syndrome. All of them received specialist medical care but 51 also went through the Lightning Process.
The researchers report that after 12 months, children who went through the programme had less fatigue, anxiety and depression than the others – and also had improved school attendance.
The researchers, led by Professor Esther Crawley, write: “The main difference between the Lightning Process and cognitive behaviour therapy appears to be the emphasis placed on physiological responses and causal attributions. But we do not know whether these explain the greater effectiveness of LP.”
NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon said: “The strong message from stakeholders was that the continuing debate about the causes of this condition and the best approach to treatment argued for a review of the current guideline.
“We will now recruit a guideline committee which will include people with the condition and their carers, the healthcare professionals who treat them and the organisations which commission that treatment. As with all the guidance we produce, we will also ensure that stakeholders have the opportunity to provide evidence and insights throughout the development of the guideline.”
Archives of Disease in Childhood 21 September 2017 [abstract]
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