Alison Bested

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
Source:ehicanada.com

Alison Christine Bested, MD, FRCP(C), a Haematological Pathologist, is the Chair of Integrative Medicine at Nova Southeastern University in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Clinical Director of the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine Clinic and the Director of Student Research, Nova Southeastern University, Miami, Florida, United States.[1] Former positions include working at the Environmental Health Clinic, Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,[2] and the Complex Chronic Disease Program at BC Women’s Hospital clinic, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[3]

Dr. Bested's medical specialty practice has been dedicated to patients with complex chronic medical conditions including: myalgic cncephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and persistent Lyme disease. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She is works in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.[4]

Dr. Bested was chosen by Health Canada to participate on the Expert Medical Consensus Panel that wrote the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Clinical Working Case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols. This consensus definition was published in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2003. In the literature this is known as the Canadian Consensus Definition of ME/CFS and is used worldwide by clinicians and researchers.[5]

Writing committees and boards[edit | edit source]

Advocacy work[edit | edit source]

Dr Alison Bested scholarship fund[edit | edit source]

A scholarship was founded in Dr Bested's name to honor her dedication to ME/CFS, FM and MCS patients. Canadian Students enrolled in the Environmental Medicine elective at University of Toronto are eligible.[10]

Open Letter to The Lancet[edit | edit source]

Dr. Bested participated in a campaign by ME specialists to have the PACE trial reviewed by an independent panel. In response to The Lancet's publication of the controversial PACE trial in 2011, three open letters to the editor of The Lancet urged the editor, Richard Horton, to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial. In 2016, Dr. Bested, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter, and in 2018, Dr. Bested, along with over 100 colleagues signed a third letter.

Editorial[edit | edit source]


Notable studies in ME/CFS[edit | edit source]

  • 2001, Chronic fatigue syndrome: neurological findings may be related to blood-brain barrier permeability[12] (Abstract)
  • 2003, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Clinical Working Case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols[6] (Full Text)
  • 2009, A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of a probiotic in emotional symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome[13] - (Full Text)
  • 2015, Review of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: an evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management by clinicians[14] - (Abstract)
  • 2018, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Insights & Advances in Care[15]
  • 2019, Understanding Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Emerging Osteopathic Approach: A Narrative Review[16] - (Abstract)
  • Aug 2019, Editorial: Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care[17] - (Full text)

Talks and interviews[edit | edit source]

Books[edit | edit source]

  • 2002, The Fibromyalgia Cookbook: More Than 120 Easy and Delicious Recipes, ISBN-10: 1581822707
  • 2008, Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, ASIN: B00V1D68LU
  • 2013, The Complete Fibromyalgia Health Diet Guide and Cookbook, ISBN-10: 0778804534

Online presence[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "ME/CFS Canadian Collaborative Team Conference" (PDF). Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  2. Carruthers, Bruce; van de Sande, Marjorie. "An Overview of the Canadian Consensus Document" (PDF). FM-CFS.ca. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  3. Fayerman, Pamela (May 22, 2014). "Patients upset over departure of top medical expert Alison Bested from Vancouver hospital clinic". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  4. ""An Update on ME/CFS" presented by Alison Bested, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., - SharkMedia". sharkmedia.nova.edu. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  5. "Board Members". EHICanada. Dr. Alison Bested: Treasurer and Director (Biography). Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Carruthers, Bruce M.; Jain, Anil Kumar; De Meirleir, Kenny L.; Peterson, Daniel L.; Klimas, Nancy G.; Lerner, A. Martin; Bested, Alison C.; Flor-Henry, Pierre; Joshi, Pradip; Powles, AC Peter; Sherkey, Jeffrey A.; van de Sande, Marjorie I. (2003), "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Clinical Working Case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols" (PDF), Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 11 (2): 7–115, doi:10.1300/J092v11n01_02
  7. Bested, Alison (May 2016). "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Make the Diagnosis". IACFSME. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  8. "Complete Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome CDE Roster". NIH. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. "NINDS CDE Project Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Baseline/Covariate Information Subgroup" (PDF).
  10. "DR ALISON BESTED SCHOLARSHIP FUND". mefmaction.com. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  11. Friedman, Kenneth; Bateman, Lucinda; Bested, Alison C.; Nahle, Zaher (August 2019). "Editorial: Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care". Frontiers in Pediatrics. doi:10.3389/fped.2019.00370.
  12. Bested, A.C.; Saunders, P.R.; Logan, A.C. (August 2001). "Chronic fatigue syndrome: neurological findings may be related to blood–brain barrier permeability". Medical Hypotheses. 57 (2): 231–237. doi:10.1054/mehy.2001.1306.
  13. Rao, A Venket; Bested, Alison C; Beaulne, Tracey M; Katzman, Martin A; Iorio, Christina; Berardi, John M; Logan, Alan C (2009). "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of a probiotic in emotional symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome". Gut Pathogens. 1 (1): 6. doi:10.1186/1757-4749-1-6. ISSN 1757-4749. PMC 2664325. PMID 19338686.
  14. Bested, AC; Marshall, LM (2015), "Review of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: an evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management by clinicians", Reviews on Environmental Health, 30 (4): 223-49, doi:10.1515/reveh-2015-0026, PMID 26613325
  15. Bested, Alison (June 2018). "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Insights & Advances in Care". Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 24 (S1): 32–33. ISSN 1078-6791. PMID 30982016.
  16. Larrimore, Christopher; Ramnot, Amanda; Jaghab, Annmarie; Sarduy, Sofia; Guerrero, George; Troccoli, Peter; Hilton, Kelly; Bested, Alison (July 1, 2019). "Understanding Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Emerging Osteopathic Approach: A Narrative Review". The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. 119 (7): 446. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2019.081. ISSN 0098-6151.
  17. Friedman, Kenneth; Bateman, Lucinda; Bested, Alison C.; Nahle, Zaher (August 2019). "Editorial: Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care". Frontiers in Pediatrics. doi:10.3389/fped.2019.00370.
  18. "ME/CFS Canadian Collaborative Team Conference program" (PDF). Retrieved March 6, 2019.