Charles Shepherd

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Charles Bernard Shepherd, MB, BS, is the Honorary Medical Adviser to the ME Association, a patient charity in London, United Kingdom and the co-author with Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri of ME/CFS/PVFS: An Exploration of Key Clinical Issues, also known as The Purple Book, a health professional's guidebook published by the ME Association.[1] He was on the Steering Committee of the National ME Observatory, a collaborative research project in the UK.[2] His special interest in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) stems from having developed the illness in his twenties after a bout of chickenpox.[3][4]

Dr. Shepherd is interviewed in the 2012 BBC Alba (Scotland, UK) documentary Toxic Tiredness about ME/CFS.[4]

London criteria[edit | edit source]

Dr. Shepherd was one of the co-authors of the 1994[5] and, the updated 2014, London criteria case definition for myalgic encephalomyelitis research.[6]

Shepherd ME/CFS Disability Scale[edit | edit source]

The Shepherd ME/CFS Disability Scale, a symptom scale created by Dr. Charles Shepherd, was adapted from the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) used for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).[7]

Books[edit | edit source]

Open Letter to The Lancet[edit | edit source]

Two open letters to the editor of The Lancet urged the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which the journal had published in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Shepherd, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter.

Response to Institute of Medicine report[edit | edit source]

Media coverage about Dr Shepherd[edit | edit source]

Talks, interviews and news articles[edit | edit source]

  • 2015, It’s time for doctors to apologise to their ME patients

    Excerpt: " Opening the 2015 research collaborative section of neuropathology, Jose Montoya, professor of medicine at the University of Stanford, said: “I have a wish and a dream that medical and scientific societies will apologise to their ME patients." I agree – the time has come for doctors and scientists to apologise for the very neglectful way in which ME has been researched and treated over the past 60 years. Doctors need to start listening to their patients and there must now be increased investment in biomedical research to gain a better understanding of the disease process and to develop treatments that these patients desperately need." (Telegraph, UK, 7 Dec 2015)[8]

  • 2016, Dr. Shepherd and Patient Ginger @1:10 (BBC Radio London - Jo Good, UK, 8 Aug 2016)
  • May 14, 2018, Interviewed on The ME Show podcast by Gary Burgess about his own experience of ME and current medical research.[9] Episode link
  • Jan 28, 2019, Interviewed on The ME Show podcast by Gary Burgess about the latest developments in ME research.[10] - Episode link

Pace trial critiques[edit | edit source]

  • 9 Apr 2017 - PACE trial claims for recovery in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome – true or false? It’s time for an independent review of the methodology and results[11] - (Full Text)

Short web seminars by Science to patients / wetenschap voor patienten, English spoken, nederlands ondertiteld[edit | edit source]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "The Purple Book – 2019 edition!". Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  2. "Disclosure by AfME of composition of National ME Observatory Steering and Management Groups". ME agenda. October 29, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  3. "Dr Charles Shepherd". talkhealthpartnership.com. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  4. 4.0 4.1 ME: The Toxic Tiredness (Part 1), retrieved September 10, 2019
  5. Dowsett, EG; Goudsmit, E; Macintyre, A; Shepherd, C (1994). London criteria for M.E., Report from The National Task Force on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). Westcare. pp. 96–98.
  6. "ME/CFS Medical Update (Layman's version) Winter 2001". axfordsabode.org.uk. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Shepherd, Charles (1999). Living with M.E.: The Chronic/post-viral Fatigue Syndrome. London: Vermilion.
  8. Shepherd, Dr Charles (December 7, 2015). "It's time for doctors to apologise to their ME patients". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  9. "The ME Show with Gary Burgess - Charles Shepherd". buzzsprout.com. May 14, 2018.
  10. "The ME Show with Gary Burgess - Dr Charles Shepherd". buzzsprout.com. January 28, 2019.
  11. Shepherd, Charles Bernard (August 2017). "PACE trial claims for recovery in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome – true or false? It's time for an independent review of the methodology and results". Journal of Health Psychology. 22 (9): 1187–1191. doi:10.1177/1359105317703786. ISSN 1359-1053.