Frank Twisk

Frank N.M. Twisk, MBA, MBI, BEd, BEc, is a Dutch myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) advocate and writer. Prior to becoming ill with ME in 1996, he was a project manager, business administrator, information scientist, mathematician, higher education teacher, and avid footballer. He encourages those of different talents to work together in the goal for scientific answers to ME and advocates for a clear distinction between ME and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Twisk is associated with a Dutch non-profit, ME-de-patiënten Foundation, in a voluntary (non-paid) capacity.

Interviews & Talks

 * 2015 - ME and my life: past, present and future (video - Dutch w/ English Closed Captions)

Published Articles, Commentary and Letters

 * 2009, A review on cognitive behavorial therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET) in myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) / chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): CBT/GET is not only ineffective and not evidence-based, but also potentially harmful for many patients with ME/CFS.
 * 2010, Chronic fatigue syndrome: Harvey and Wessely's (bio)psychosocial model versus a bio(psychosocial) model based on inflammatory and oxidative and nitrosative stress pathways
 * 2011, Increased IgA responses to the LPS of commensal bacteria is associated with inflammation and activation of cell-mediated immunity in chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 2012, Evidence for inflammation and activation of cell-mediated immunity in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): increased interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, PMN-elastase, lysozyme and neopterin. (Abstract)
 * 2012, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and Chronic Fatigue (CF) are distinguished accurately: results of supervised learning techniques applied on clinical and inflammatory data (Abstract)
 * 2013, Rebuttal to Ickmans et al. Association between cognitive performance, physical fitness, and physical activity level in women with chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 2014, Review Article: Deviant Cellular and Physiological Responses to Exercise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
 * 2015, Letter to the Editor, by Frank Twisk in Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior
 * 2015, Commentary on Jason et al. (2015): towards separate empirical case definitions of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome
 * Jun 26, 2015, Accurate diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome based upon objective test methods for characteristic symptoms (Full Text)
 * Nov 7, 2015, Deviant cellular and physiological responses to exercise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 2016, PACE: CBT and GET are not rehabilitative therapies
 * 2016, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome or systemic exercise intolerance disease: What’s in a name?
 * 2017, Dangerous exercise. The detrimental effects of exertion and orthostatic stress in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2018, Commentary - Dutch Health Council Advisory Report on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Taking the Wrong Turn (Full Text)
 * 2018, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease: Three Distinct Clinical Entities (Full Text)
 * 2018, Correspondence - Graded exercise self-help for chronic fatigue syndrome in GETSET (Full Text)
 * 2018, Cognitive–behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: neither efficacious nor safe
 * 2018, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or what? The International Consensus Criteria.
 * 2019, Cognitive-behavorial and graded exercise therapies for chronic fatigue (syndrome) are associated with lower levels of work/school attendance

Online Presence

 * Twitter
 * Website
 * FaceBook
 * LinkedIn

Learn more

 * Stichting ME-de-patiënten Foundation