Denmark

Denmark

Research

• 2015, The Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) - (Full text)

Researchers

• Henrik Nielsen
• Ivan Brandslund
• Per Fink (psychological paradigm proponent)
• Rikke Olsen
• Louise Brinth
• Jesper Mehlsen

Medical guidelines

National health department

In 2019, the Danish parliament unanimously voted to separate ME/CFS from functional disorders (medically unexplained symptoms), and to treat the disease as a physical neurological illness using the World Health Organization classification rather than as psychosomatic illness, and called upon the department of health to update it's information.

In previous years, the controversial biopsychosocial model was the main approach to treatment for patients with ME/CFS in Denmark.

Access to care

How many hospitals&doctors, which diagnose and treat ME (estimate): Rehabilitation offers for ME sufferers:

Notable patients

• Karina Hansen

See also

• EUROMENE
• ME Foreningen

medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) - Technically, this term means that no cause or explanation for the patient's symptoms has yet been found. However, patients diagnosed with "MUPS" are generally lumped into a psychosomatic, or psychologically-caused category by those in the medical profession, without any scientific basis for doing so.

somatic symptom disorder A psychiatric term to describe an alleged condition whereby a person's thoughts somehow cause physical symptoms. The actual existence of such a condition is highly controversial, due to a lack of scientific evidence. It is related to other psychiatric terms, such as "psychosomatic", "neurasthenia", and "hysteria". Older terms include "somatization", "somatoform disorder", and "conversion disorder". Such terms refer to a scientifically-unsupported theory that claims that a wide range of physical symptoms can be created by the human mind, a theory which has been criticized as "mind over matter" parapsychology, a pseudoscience.

cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) - A type of psychotherapy geared toward modifying alleged unhealthy thinking, behaviors or illness beliefs. One of the treatment arms used in the controversial PACE trial.

graded exercise therapy (GET) - A gradual increase in exercise or activity, according to a pre-defined plan. Focuses on overcoming the patient's alleged unhelpful illness beliefs that exertion can exacerbate symptoms, rather than on reversing physical deconditioning. Considered controversial, and possibly harmful, in the treatment or management of ME. One of the treatment arms of the controversial PACE trial.