Mark Vink

Mark A. Vink, MD, is a General Practitioner and insurance doctor in The Netherlands. He lives with severe ME/CFS triggered by pneumonia and prolonged by graded exercise therapy (GET). As a result of his adverse experience with GET, he has been a vocal critic of the PACE trial. One piece written about the PACE trial garnished him a nomination for the 2016 John Maddox Prize, an international award for an individual who promotes sound science despite difficulty or hostility in doing so.

Before becoming ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis, Mark Vink ran marathons, competed in triathlons, was a Dutch national hockey champion, and a brown belt in judo.

Aerobic Threshold / Lactic Acid Study
While bedridden with severe M.E., Dr Vink carried out a biomedical study on himself, collecting blood with finger prick lancets and pediatric sized tubes. By measuring creatine kinase, inorganic phosphate and lactic acid before and after trivial exercise (i.e., walking the 5 to 6 yards from his bed to the toilet and back), he showed that his aerobic energy production and lactic acid excretion were both impeded.

The results of Vink's 2015 study were reported in a Dutch national newspaper as finding that the physical impact of going to the bathroom was similar to that of running a marathon for people with chronic fatigue syndrome, although what Vink found was that his own lactic acid levels were higher than those at which most professional atheletes would have quit.

An open letter to Psychological Medicine about "recovery" and the PACE trial
Dr. Vink was one of the signatories of an open letter to Psychological Medicine about “recovery” and the PACE trial dated March 13, 2017 urging Psychological Medicine to retract a paper claiming recovery for ME/CFS patients by using graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Notable studies

 * 2015 - The Aerobic Energy Production and the Lactic Acid Excretion are both Impeded in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full text)
 * 2016 - The PACE Trial Invalidates the Use of Cognitive Behavioral and Graded Exercise Therapy in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Review (Full text)
 * 2017 - FITNET’s Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Is Ineffective and May Impede Natural Recovery in Adolescents with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A Review (Full text)
 * 2017 - Research Article - PACE trial authors continue to ignore their own null effect (Full text)
 * 2017 - Assessment of Individual PACE Trial Data: in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Cognitive Behavioral and Graded Exercise Therapy are Ineffective, Do Not Lead to Actual Recovery and Negative Outcomes may be Higher than Reported (Full text)
 * 2018 - Multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatment is not effective for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A review of the FatiGo trial. (Full text)
 * 2018, Graded exercise therapy for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome is not effective and unsafe. Re-analysis of a Cochrane review (Full Text)
 * 2019, Work Rehabilitation and Medical Retirement for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients. A Review and Appraisal of Diagnostic Strategies - (Full text)
 * 2021, The draft updated NICE guidance for ME/CFS highlights the unreliability of subjective outcome measures in non-blinded trials - (Full text)

Talks and interviews

 * 3 Oct 2017 - Interview of Dr Mark Vink in Volkskrant 'Als je CVS hebt is naar de wc gaan al een marathon' / 'For patients with CFS, going to the bathroom is similar to running a marathon.'

Online presence

 * ResearchGate
 * Twitter
 * Google Scholar
 * LinkedIn

Learn more

 * Sep 25, 2015 - "How Walking to Bathroom Can Be Harder Than Running a Marathon: A Doctor’s ME/CFS Case Study" by Cort Johnson in Health Rising