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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 11m

US research:

"COVID-19 may have created a new year-round baseline for work absences...similar to influenza season conditions before the pandemic"

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

"Policymakers should consider...policies & actions that mitigate the spread of #COVID19"

#LongCovid #CovidIsNotOver

Key Points
Question Following the COVID-19 pandemic, has SARS-CoV-2 circulation been associated with health-related absences from work and labor force exits?

Findings In this nationally representative cohort study of approximately 158.4 million workers, rates of health-related work absences remained elevated after the pandemic and were associated with circulating SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent decreases in labor force participation by absence-affected workers.

Meaning These findings suggest that COVID-19 may have created a new year-round baseline for work absences that is similar to influenza season conditions before the pandemic; policymakers should consider expanding interventions and data collection efforts to address the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the labor force.

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 11h

ME/CFS: Is there a comprehensive explanation for this long-misunderstood illness?

www.irishtimes.com/health/your-...

From the October 2025 AMMES Newsletter

#MEcfs #CFS #PwME

ME/CFS: Is there a comprehensive explanation for this long-misunderstood illness?
Wirth and Scheibenbogen’s unifying model hypothesis considers a key role for autoantibodies against blood flow-related cellular receptors in skeletal muscle and the brain.
The refinement of Wirth and Scheibenbogen’s unifying model hypothesis has led to a therapeutic concept: a drug called Mitodicure, which is “a novel molecule to treat patients with exertional intolerance and post-exertional malaise (PEM)”. Steps are under way to attract funding for clinical trials.
Read more here>>

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 11h

Please Help David Tuller @davetuller1.bsky.social , Our Champion!

crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

From the October 2025 AMMES Newsletter

#MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME #LongCovid

Please Help David Tuller, Our Champion!

Photo of David Tuller

Last spring, David successfully raised money through Crowdrise in order to continue investigating and blogging about the PACE trial. The funds went to the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, which created a position for David to continue his investigative work. Now the funds have run out, and Tuller has to depend on the generosity of our community to continue his work.

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Reposted by Tom Kindlon

Katharine Cheston @kacheston.bsky.social · 18h

An incredibly moving post:

"I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence"

Screenshot of an article:

"We all have these big ideas about what our 20’s are supposed to look like, how they’re supposed to feel and who we’re supposed to be. I’ve watched through a screen while the majority of people I grew up with have spent their 20s living; been to university, travelled, started careers, fallen in love, had families, bought their own homes, experienced so much.

I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence
Meanwhile, in my 20s I have had to have my most basic needs seen to by my Mum, my family, my friends, complete strangers. My Mum and I have spent hours upon hours on the phone to Receptionists, Doctors, Nurses, Social Workers and Carers, often begging for help. I have tried countless medications and experienced countless side effects and struggled to manage countless symptoms by myself. I have been unable to speak and unable to feed myself, unable to sit up and unable to stand, unable to cope with the presence of other people and unable to be safely left alone. I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence, unable to access the outside world and all it has to offer."

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Reposted by Tom Kindlon

Ginger Billie @gingerbillie.bsky.social · 18h

I do not think, in my life, I have met a disease that is as cruel, long term, as ME/CFS.

I wrote a card to a researcher thanking them for their work and in it put, “I am too sick to live but too well to die”.

Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 18h

"I still desperately want to live"

A woman who is turning 30 who has spent the last decade living with severe ME reflects on her life

meglobalchronicle.wordpress.com/2023/12/23/i...

#SevereME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME @ludiekje.bsky.social

I still desperately want to live
Gepubliceerd op 23 december 2023
One of my favourite films is 13 Going On 30 (honestly, it’s mostly for Mark Ruffalo) and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Jennifer Garner’s character Jenna chanting “thirty and flirty and thriving” at 13 in her parents basement; then I try to remember all the things I said to myself about what my life might look like at 30 when I was just 13.

I wanted to be a forensic psychologist and a vet and a mechanic and a midwife and an ecologist and an infant school teacher and a counsellor and a forensic pathologist (until I realised dead bodies of any species freak me out). I never could decide what I wanted my life to look like when I grew up but I knew I wanted to do so much.

I turn 30 next month and I have spent the last decade living with Severe M.E. There have been months of time within that when I would have been classed as having Very Severe M.E and periods of time when I would have been more towards being Moderate-Severe. There have been times when I have felt desolate and times when I have felt so much joy. There has been great loneliness and there has been the love of community. There have been times when I did not know if I’d live to see my 30s and times when I had unbelievable amounts of hope that things would get better. I have survived it all.

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 18h

"I still desperately want to live"

A woman who is turning 30 who has spent the last decade living with severe ME reflects on her life

meglobalchronicle.wordpress.com/2023/12/23/i...

#SevereME #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MEcfs #CFS #PwME @ludiekje.bsky.social

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 19h

From: ANZMES

#SevereME #PostExertionalMalaise #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #MEcfs #CFS #PwME

Understanding Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM)
is non-negotiable.
Minimal exertion
ME
ANZMES
can trigger it.
Such as:
Exposure to light.
Being touched. Answering a question.
#SEVEREMEDAY

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 20h

3/

bsky.app/profile/mecf...

ME/CFS Science @mecfsskeptic.bsky.social · 2d

1) There's a new ME/CFS study that is getting a lot of attention in the media. It focuses on epigenetics: how genes are switched on or off by folding DNA in a different way.

You genetic code itself is fixed but the expression of genes can change by environmental factors.

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 20h

2/

bsky.app/profile/mecf...

ME/CFS Science @mecfsskeptic.bsky.social · 23h

1) The Physios for ME team published a randomized trial on pacing with a heart rate monitor. It included 32 patients with ME/CFS and 15 with Long Covid.

A brief breakdown of the main results 🧵

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Reposted by Tom Kindlon

Chris Ponting @cgatist.bsky.social · 3d

The research used to claim reliability of a ME/CFS blood test has important limitations, shown here.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Three possible confounders in a study proposing an ME/CFS blood test : sex/age, batch and inactivity/severity. Better designed studies by independent researchers are necessary.

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 21h

4-page factsheet from the MCS-Aware charity on Air Purifiers

mcs-aware.org/wp-content/u...

Comment: this is not an area I know anything about myself

#MCS #CleanAir #Novid

Air Purifiers An air purifier is not a cure for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), but it can provide significant relief. Air purifiers can filter out small particles and chemicals like chloroform, benzene, formaldehyde and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs are released from stain-resistant furniture, flame retardant clothing, pressed wood products, carpeting, upholstery and lots of other things. Air purifiers can be extremely helpful to reduce levels of VOCs in the home or workplace. However it is important to do what you can to reduce levels of pollutants in your environment first. Since people with MCS can become sensitised to the chemicals in the machines and filters, it is better to use them occasionally rather than rely on them being on all the time: Fragrance free policies are available for the workplace, and the helpsheet ‘Creating a Low Allergy Bedroom’ can be used to lower the amount of problem chemicals all over the house. Everyone is different. If you can’t get your head around all the different types of filters etc then just make a list of what you want to remove, and contact a company like Healthy House who are used to advising people with MCS. Make sure they will let you return the machine if you react to it, even after several weeks. Details of suppliers are at the end of this helpsheet. Air purifiers designed for “allergies” are not necessarily helpful for people with severe MCS, more information below.

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Reposted by Tom Kindlon

youngEMERG @youngemerg.bsky.social · 1d

🌍 Going to Vienna for #YEVienna2025?
Apply for one of five travel grants to attend the Young EMERG Workshop!

🏨 Grants cover two hotel nights near the venue to support networking and collaboration.
📚 Open to Master’s, PhD, medical students & postdocs.
🔗 Apply via the QR code!

#YoungEMERG

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Reposted by Tom Kindlon

Adam @abrokenbattery.bsky.social · 1d

It’s @davetuller1.bsky.social‘s birthday today, so I’ve donated to his fundraising campaign so that he can carry on his important work calling out bad research. Happy Birthday David!

crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/47768

David Tuller's Trial by Error Fall 2025

Help UC Berkeley raise $68,000 for the project: David Tuller's Trial by Error Fall 2025. Your gift will make a difference!

crowdfund.berkeley.edu

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