Sarah Myhill

Doctor Sarah Myhill is a British naturopath running her own specialist M.E. clinic in Knighton, Wales, United Kingdom. Her website is an extensive resource of articles and information based on her treatment of patients, it runs to 920 webpages and has had over six million individual visits.

Dr Myhill's view is that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is characterized by a cellular metabolic mitochondrial dysfunction and has published several studies. Dr Myhill estimates that she has attempted to treat over 10,000 people with ME/CFS over her 30-year medical practice.

Dr Myhill explains her philosophy of medicine here. Sarah Myhill is currently suspended from the GMC register and is not allowed to practice as a doctor in the United Kingdom.

Clinical Practice

Dr Myhill has an experienced staff supporting her clinical practice. For individuals unable to visit in person staff will coordinate with the individual's primary care provider, will send lab kits for blood draw to be analyzed by Dr Myhill. She produces detailed analysis of blood work, provides recommendations and will discuss cases by telephone. Blood test analysis provides measures of ATP production and mitochondrial efficiency based upon her published research. While other physicians seem to understand her analytical methods, few, if any, are comfortable commenting on their significance. For decades, Dr Myhill has prioritized patient support and treatment results over independent corroboration.

Dr Myhill also supports Miss Voss's Regime for Antiretroviral Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Regime for Antiretroviral Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Complaints

Dr Myhill has been the subject of complaints to the General Medical Council. A recent Freedom of Information Act request confirmed that Dr Myhill is the most investigated doctor in the history of the GMC. She has been subject to 38 investigations before she gave up her GMC license in resignation; all investigations were found in her favour. None of the complainants against Dr Myhill were patients.

A non-compliance Hearing was held from Sep 28th - Oct 2nd 2020 found in favor of Dr Myhill and no restrictions were placed on her practice. The non-compliance issue was about Dr Myhill's refusal to provide the GMC with the medical records of a patient who did not consent to them being shared. The GMC requested the records after the patient's GP made a complaint to the GMC, which the patient refused to support. A further complaint was made against her and Dr Myhill was brought to Tribunal in February 2023. The tribunal found that Myhill, who practises in Powys, promoted and endorsed the use of high doses of vitamins C and D and the inhalation of iodine through a salt pipe for the treatment of bacterial and viral infections including covid. The tribunal found that Myhill “does not practise evidence based medicine and may encourage false reassurance in her patients who may believe that they will not catch covid-19 or other infections if they follow her advice.” Myhill was also found guilty of serious misconduct in failing to reconsider her treatment plan after she failed to diagnose a fractured hip in a patient who had a fall, and in not recommending his admission to hospital when his condition had not improved. Dr Myhill was suspended for 9 month as a result of this Tribunal, with a review scheduled for the end which has not yet taken place.

Advocacy

Dr Myhill is a vocal critic of the PACE trial and biopsychosocial model of ME/CFS. Dr Myhill's GMC complaint regarding a number of PACE trial authors was first rejected without investigation by the GMC, after Dr Myhill appealed the GMC stated they would reconsider. Dr Myhill's action against the GMC for failing to provide reasoning for not investigating the PACE trial authors is still continuing, and began a number of months before the most recent GMC instigation of her practice started.

Dr Myhill is also the creator of the Medical Abuse In ME Sufferers (MAIMES) petition.

Medical Abuse in ME Sufferers

Dr Sarah Myhill's Medical Abuse In ME Sufferers (MAIMES) petition calls for a UK public enquiry into the medical abuse and neglect experienced by British patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (often called chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS/ME in the UK).

Mitochondrial Energy Score test

Tomas et al. (2019) attempted to replicate the findings of Myhill, Booth and McClaren-Howard in a study of just ten ME patients, but were unable to distinguish between patients and healthy controls. Myhill responsed highlighting differences in their methods that could have accounted for their results, and stating they incorrectly referred to the test as a diagnostic test for CFS/ME.

• Dr Myhill's response to "Assessing cellular energy dysfunction in CFS/ME using a commercially available laboratory test"

Notable studies

• 2009, Chronic fatigue syndrome and mitochondrial dysfunction (Full Text)
• 2012, Mitochondrial dysfunction and the pathophysiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) (Full Text)
• 2013, Targeting mitochondrial dysfunction in the treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) (Full Text)

Book

• 2014, updated 2018 - Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: It's Mitochondria, Not Hypochondria by Sarah Myhill. Edited by, and with a chapter by Craig Robinson.

Talks and interviews

(More talks and interviews can be found on YouTube playlist for Dr Myhill)

• 2007, Speaker at the 2nd Invest in ME International ME Conference on Treatments and Diagnosis – A GP’s Perspective - (Video)
• 2015, Biocare Summer 2015 Conference
• 2016, OMEGA AGM Seminar 2016
• 2018, Dr. Myhill Calls For The GMC To Investigate The PACE Trial Authors
• Mar 04, 2019 - Interviewed on The ME Show by Gary Burgess on her understanding and experience of treating people with ME and CFS, as well as her own ongoing battles with the General Medical Council - (Episode Link)

Online presence

• Website
• Support Dr Sarah Myhill public Facebook group
• Support for followers of Dr Myhill's protocol closed Facebook group
• Supporters of Dr Sarah Myhill Facebook page
• Twitter
• YouTube playlist
• Address: Upper Weston, Knighton LD7 1SL, Wales, United Kingdom ()

Learn more

• 2012, "Booth, Myhill, McLaren-Howard Comment on ME/CFS Mitochondrial Dysfunction Paper" by Norman E. Booth, Sarah Myhill, John McLaren-Howard for ProHealth
• MAIMES petition - Medical Abuse of ME Sufferers
• CFS Checklist - start off and check your treatment regime here

See also

• John McLaren-Howard
• Ethical issues
• Medical Abuse In ME Sufferers (MAIMES)

a practitioner who uses a system of treatment of disease that avoids drugs and surgery and emphasizes the use of natural agents (such as air, water, and herbs) and physical means (such as tissue manipulation and electrotherapy)

naturopath a practitioner who uses a system of treatment of disease that avoids drugs and surgery and emphasizes the use of natural agents (such as air, water, and herbs) and physical means (such as tissue manipulation and electrotherapy)

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

mitochondria Important parts of the biological cell, with each mitochondrion encased within a mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria are best known for their role in energy production, earning them the nickname "the powerhouse of the cell". Mitochondria also participate in the detection of threats and the response to these threats. One of the responses to threats orchestrated by mitochondria is apoptosis, a cell suicide program used by cells when the threat can not be eliminated.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

PACE trial A controversial study which claimed that CBT and GET were effective in treating "CFS/ME", despite the fact that its own data did not support this conclusion. Its results and methodology were widely disputed by patients, scientists, and the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

mitochondria Important parts of the biological cell, with each mitochondrion encased within a mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria are best known for their role in energy production, earning them the nickname "the powerhouse of the cell". Mitochondria also participate in the detection of threats and the response to these threats. One of the responses to threats orchestrated by mitochondria is apoptosis, a cell suicide program used by cells when the threat can not be eliminated.

BMJ The BMJ (previously the British Medical Journal) is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal.