It contains 44 pages packed with news, views and features – while never losing sight of the disastrous series of government guidelines on ME/CFS which have been emerging in recent months, which need radical re-thinks.

ME Essential contains a personal tribute to Christine Llewellyn – “the leader who put fire back in the belly of The ME Association”. Christine, our former chairman, died on June 5.

Here’s a taste of its contents:

NEWS

* Personality: Interview with the country’s leading ME/CFS consultant paediatrician, Dr Nigel Speight, on the eve of his retirement.

* Income protection insurance: Ombudsman rules the UnumProvident spy camera lied. Covert video evidence of claimant while relaxing fails to convince.

* Sport: top golfer falls down in the ratings as PVFS takes grip. Ian Woosnam’s miserable time qualifying for the 2007 Open Golf Championship.

* 2007 medallist: The Melvin Ramsay Society honours Professor John Gow, who is leading The ME Association’s genetic research study in Scotland.

* Invitation to The MEA Annual Medical Meeting: it will be held in Peterborough on September 15.

* Patrons: welcome back to two old friends, husband and wife actors George Baker and Louie Ramsay. Louie is the daughter of the late Dr Melvin Ramsay, the infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free Hospital in London at the time of the ME epidemic there in 1955.

CAMPAIGNS

* In Parliament: the All Party Parliamentary Group on ME at Westminster moves back into top gear, as the Gibson Inquiry team disbands. Good discussion with Dr Ira Madden, NHS Plus director of the ME/CFS occupational health guidance.

*  Stop Press: we take issue with the latest version of the ME/CFS medical guidance for DLA decision-makers at the Department for Work and Pensions.

* Brief look at the big Invest in ME conference in London.

MEDICINE

* MEA medical adviser Dr Charles Shepherd has some good advice for patients with ME/CFS who have to go into hospital – in his latest Management File.

* Questions and Answers on endometriosis, DWP medical examinations at home, heat sensitivity and Ritalin.

* We announce the third edition of “ME/CFS/PVFS: an exploration of the clinical issues”, the revised edition of The MEA medical guidance by Dr Charles Shepherd and Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri.

RESEARCH

* The MEA Ramsay Research Fund explored – what it’s done and where it’s going.

*  Gene expression in ME/CFS: progress report from Glasgow Caledonian University by Professor John Gow and his research assistant, Dr Gillian Gibson.

FEATURES

* A vital purchase for people travelling abroad: what to look out for when buying travel insurance.

* The scientific low-down on nutritional therapies popular with people with ME/CFS: the first part of a two-part series of articles by registered dietitian Deborah Lycett.

* Maddy Stuckey, a 20-year-old with a glorious voice, launches her new CD.

* How Paul Burrows, from Hampshire, became Council Worker of the Year.

* When ‘taking a dive’ can play a useful part in ME/CFS: Martine Mockford looks at the plunge pool success of her teenage daughter Sharnia.

* An entertaining look at severe ME survival techniques which worked for Sarah Caddick.

FUNDRAISING

* Walking the Amazon for ME/CFS tissue research: why Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer are taking on one of the world’s last remaining great adventures.

* A beneficial link with a supplier of home-delivered organic foods. Why Swaddles Organic have joined up with The ME Association.

* Recycling your old mobile phones. Use the envelope supplied with ME Essential, help save the world and make money for The MEA in the process.

* MEA hon treasurer Ewan Dale explains why members’ efforts are still vital to the success of the charity.

LITERATURE

We publish a raft of new leaflets on: The ME/CFS Disability Rating Scale, Going into Hospital, Current Issues – a medical and political briefing paper, The MEA Ramsay Research Fund explained, Travel Insurance.

LETTERS

Subjects covered:  adrenal gland exhaustion, The Lightning Process, education at home and on the internet, infection from talking parrots, the Guaifenisen Protocol, new disease names, ME and antibiotics, morning pain, when the DWP computer says ‘no’.

ME Essential is the quarterly magazine of The ME Association (UK), which is posted out to all members. For details of membership, please phone 01280 818968 or click here