Worcester News Letters.

Heather Hutber makes some refreshingly honest and accurate comments about the Lightning Process as a treatment for M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) but they don't go far enough and there are some other issues, apart from her own daughter, Zoe's, experience with it that need discussing. There's no doubt, as she says, it is a "controversial therapy" but she does not "completely understand why"; nobody does, not even the people who practise it.

The Lightning Process has not been independently, scientifically, tested but relies on subjective testimonials. It is not approved by any orthodox medical organisation. It is practised by a disparate group of people with diverse and vague qualifications, with no recognised universal standards. The trainers, who are franchised by Lightning Process inventor Phil Parker, in return for a training fee and a percentage of the take, appear to be sworn to secrecy about what will happen in a session, until the patient parts with the money. A session costs as much per hour as some people with M.E., on benefits, have to live on for a week. The final total figure, most often quoted, is £560 but we have heard of people who have paid much larger sums. The Lightning Process relies on faith and on cooperation by the patient so, if the patient says they improved, it is possible to claim success for the Lightning Process but, if the patient complains they are no better, it is possible to say that they were uncooperative or somehow not ready for it.

The title of the article, which appears to suggest that M.E. sufferer Zoe was "cured" (Parents speak of joy as Zoe's illness is cured, Worcester News, 21 June 2008) is not only inaccurate, in claiming a cure, since "by her own admission Zoe is still not fully back to her old self and currently has about 80-90% of the energy she had before", it gives the impression that this degree of recovery occurred not only after having the Lightning Process but because of it. A more plausible explanation of Zoe's improvement is that it has been brought about, over time, by pacing the energy she has and by assistance with a home tutor.

It isn't only with the Lightning Process, or other alternative therapies, that the onus is on the inventors or advocates to prove that they work and do no harm but also the orthodox treatments of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Graded Exercise Treatment (GET). Where there is no evidence of lasting benefit, without remission, or that nobody will be worse after treatment, it would be sensible to decline it until the reliable research work has been done.

I sincerely hope that Zoe gets better still and stays better but I wish the same for everyone with M.E. and for nobody to suffer due to ignorance. Zoe's Mum might be thinking differently about the Lightning Process if they had not "got their daughter back", which happens to some you won't be reading about.

Lightning Process advocates appear to be equally secretive about the success rate, without relapse, compared with those who remain so ill with M.E. that they may be discounted from the statistics. This tends to offer a false hope which, in most cases, will not be realised.

Yours sincerely
drjohngreensmith@mefreeforall.org
Dr John H Greensmith
ME Free For All. org

Parents speak of joy as Zoe's illness is cured (Worcester News, 21 June 2008)

http://www.mefreeforall.org/M-E-in-the-News.107.0.html