David Sheffield Bell

{{Infobox person

| name = David Sheffield Bell

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| education = Harvard University
Boston University

| occupation = Physician

| nationality = American

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David Sheffield Bell is an American physician who has done extensive research on the clinical aspects of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). He has also conducted evaluations and research in pediatric ME/CFS and written numerous articles about the condition.

Bell is retired from a private practice in general medicine in the town of Lyndonville, New York which he had started in 1979.{{Cite news | last1 = Hager | first1 = Mary | last2 = Joseph | first2 = Nadine | title = Chronic Fatigue Syndrome A Modern Medical Mystery | newspaper = Newsweek | date = November 12, 1990

| url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/128028/page/1}} Bell also served as Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, in Buffalo, New York.{{cite journal |author1=Jason L. |title=A Pediatric Case Definition for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome |journal= Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome |volume=13 |issue=2/3 |pages=1–44 |date=May 2006 |doi= 10.1300/J092v13n02_01|display-authors=etal|citeseerx=10.1.1.516.4887 }}

Training

Bell is a graduate of Harvard University, class of 1967, with an AB degree in English Literature. He graduated in 1971 from Boston University with an MD degree, and in 1976 completed post-doctoral training in pediatrics including Pediatric Behavior and Developmental Disorders.{{cite web| title = About David S. Bell| url = http://www.davidsbell.com/DSBAbout.htm| access-date = 2009-01-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081209051612/http://www.davidsbell.com/DSBAbout.htm| archive-date = 2008-12-09| url-status = dead}}{{cite web| title = Faculty Biographies| publisher = International Association for CFS/ME| url = http://www.iacfsme.org/FacultyBiographies/tabid/146/Default.aspx| access-date = 2009-05-09| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110726164623/http://www.iacfsme.org/FacultyBiographies/tabid/146/Default.aspx| archive-date = 2011-07-26| url-status = dead}}

Work on ME/CFS

Bell's interest in ME/CFS began in 1985 when an apparent cluster outbreak of 216 persons occurred in his rural community in upstate New York. He has written extensively on the condition, including a thirteen-year follow-up study of the children who became ill during the original outbreak.{{cite web | title = David S. Bell, M.D. | publisher = International Association for CFS/ME | url = http://www.iacfsme.org/DavidSBellMD/tabid/131/Default.aspx | access-date = 2009-01-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090523045246/http://www.iacfsme.org/DavidSBellMD/tabid/131/Default.aspx | archive-date = 2009-05-23 | url-status = dead }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Bell DS, Jordan K, Robinson M |title=Thirteen-year follow-up of children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome |journal=Pediatrics |volume=107 |issue=5 |pages=994–8 |date=May 2001 |pmid=11331676 |doi= 10.1542/peds.107.5.994|url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=11331676|citeseerx=10.1.1.612.5480 }}

Bell was involved in identifying the outbreak in Lyndonville, New York, of what was known at the time as chronic Epstein-Barr virus (now more commonly referred to as ME/CFS). When Bell was interviewed about the outbreak in a 1996 Prime Time Live episode, the reporter described Bell's appeal to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for help with the illness, but Bell says the CDC didn't mention a similar outbreak in Lake Tahoe, which he learned about later. He met with other ME/CFS researchers at a 1987 conference, and joined an investigation with researchers Paul Cheney and Elaine DeFreitas involving a possible retrovirus association with chronic fatigue syndrome. In 1990, the researchers presented evidence they found DNA sequences very similar to a known human retrovirus in some ME/CFS patients, at a conference in Kyoto, Japan.{{Cite journal |author=Palca J |title=Does a retrovirus explain fatigue syndrome puzzle? |journal=Science |volume=249 |issue=4974 |pages=1240–12 | date=14 September 1990 | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pdf_extract/249/4974/1240 | doi = 10.1126/science.2399461 | pmid=2399461|bibcode=1990Sci...249.1240P }}{{cite news | last = Altman | first = Lawrence K. | title = Virus Found That May Be Linked To a Debilitating Fatigue Ailment | work = news article | publisher = The New York Times | date = September 5, 1990 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C0CE3DD1430F936A3575AC0A966958260 | access-date = 2009-02-24 }} Their study was later published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.{{cite journal |vauthors=DeFreitas E, Hilliard B, Cheney PR |title=Retroviral sequences related to human T-lymphotropic virus type II in patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=88 |issue=7 |pages=2922–6 |date=April 1991 |pmid=1672770 |pmc=51352 |doi= 10.1073/pnas.88.7.2922|display-authors=etal|bibcode=1991PNAS...88.2922D |doi-access=free }} A reporter on Prime Time Live stated the announcement made headlines all over the world. The CDC first ignored their findings,{{cite video | people = Sam Donaldson, Nancy Snyderman, Paul Cheney, David Bell, Elaine DeFreitas, Hillary Johnson, PWC's, Paul Pollard, Mrs. Dailor, Philip Lee | title = Sick & Tired | medium = Television | publisher = ABC News | url = http://abcnewsstore.go.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DSIProductDisplay?catalogId=11002&storeId=20051&productId=2013126&langId=-1&categoryId=100024|date =1996-03-27}} then later conducted a study and published a paper that refuted the hypothesis.{{cite journal |title=Inability of retroviral tests to identify persons with chronic fatigue syndrome, 1992 |journal=MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. |volume=42 |issue=10 |pages=183, 189–90 |date=March 1993 |pmid=8446093 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00019881.htm| access-date = 2009-02-23 |author1= Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)}}

Bell wrote The Doctor's Guide to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which was published in 1995. The book, which also refers to ME/CFS as "chronic fatigue/immune dysfunction syndrome," or CFIDS, describes Bell's CFIDS disability scale.{{cite book |author=Bell, David |title=The doctor's guide to chronic fatigue syndrome: understanding, treating, and living with CFIDS |publisher=Addison-Wesley Pub. Co |location=Reading, Mass |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/doctorsguidetoch00davi/page/122 122–123] |isbn=978-0-201-40797-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/doctorsguidetoch00davi/page/122 }} Various publications have used or proposed Bell's scale which is similar to the Karnofsky scale, for the documentation of severity of symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome.{{Cite book | title = Assessing and Documenting Impairment in CFS| publisher = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U.S. Department of Health & Human Services| year = 2007| url =https://www.cdc.gov/cfs/docs/wb3151/appendix-a.pdf| access-date =2009-02-10}}{{Cite book | title = ME/CFS Guidelines Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME)/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Management Guidelines for General Practitioners | publisher = South Australian Department of Human Services | year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-7308-9334-9 }}{{cite journal |author1=Sarah Myhill |author2=Norman E. Booth |author3=John McLaren-Howard |title=Chronic fatigue syndrome and mitochondrial dysfunction |journal=Int J Clin Exp Med |volume=2 |issue= 1|pages=1–16 |year=2009 |pmid= 19436827|url=http://www.ijcem.com/files/IJCEM812001.pdf | access-date = 2009-01-26 |pmc=2680051}}{{Cite book| title = Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: From Diagnosis to Management CME/CE| publisher = Medscape, LLC| year = 2008| url = http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewprogram/17442_pnt| format = pdf| access-date = 2009-04-19}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In the 2000 ME/CFS documentary, I Remember Me, Bell appeared in an interview recounting his experiences during the Lyndonville outbreak.{{cite web | title = I Remember Me | work = Documentary | url = https://www.amazon.com/I-Remember-Me/dp/B00240WFH0 | access-date = 2009-05-09}}{{cite web | title = I Remember Me | work = press release | publisher = ZEITGEIST FILMS | url = http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/films/irememberme/presskit.pdf | access-date = 2009-01-09 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101202010142/http://zeitgeistfilms.com/films/irememberme/presskit.pdf | archive-date = 2010-12-02 }}

In 2003, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson designated Bell chairperson of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC), a panel of 11 experts that provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services "on the development and implementation of programs to inform the public; health care professionals; and the biomedical, academic, and research communities about advances related to CFS."{{cite web | title = Secretary Thompson Names New Members To Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee | publisher = U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | date = October 1, 2003 | url = http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031001b.html | access-date = 2010-10-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100610043209/http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2003pres/20031001b.html | archive-date = June 10, 2010 | url-status = dead }}{{cite journal|title=Recognizing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Teens |journal=Internal Medicine News |volume=38 |issue=9 |pages=15 |year=2005 |doi=10.1016/S1097-8690(05)70626-0 |url=https://www.internalmedicinenews.com/article/S1097-8690(05)70626-0/fulltext |access-date=2009-02-07 |last1=Bell |first1=D }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web | title = SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FISCAL YEAR 2008 Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees | publisher = U.S. Social Security Administration | date = February 2007 | url = http://199.173.224.108/budget/2008cjapp.pdf | access-date = 2009-02-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110529152022/http://199.173.224.108/budget/2008cjapp.pdf | archive-date = 2011-05-29 | url-status = dead }}

Bell also served as a board member of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME (IACFS/ME),{{cite web| title = Bulletin of the International Association for CFS/ME| publisher = International Association for CFS/ME| date = Spring 2006| url = http://www.iacfsme.org/NewsletterArchiveSpring2006/tabid/214/Default.aspx| access-date = 2009-01-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090525004242/http://www.iacfsme.org/NewsletterArchiveSpring2006/tabid/214/Default.aspx| archive-date = 2009-05-25| url-status = dead}} a professional organization of about 300 members that advocates for the concerns of CFS researchers and clinicians around the world.{{cite journal |vauthors=Friedberg F, Sohl S, Schmeizer B |title=Publication trends in chronic fatigue syndrome: comparisons with fibromyalgia and fatigue: 1995-2004 |journal=J Psychosom Res |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=143–6 |date=August 2007 |pmid=17662750 |doi=10.1016/j.jpsychores.2007.03.003 }}

Bell has retired from private practice, but in 2011 was still doing research on the cause of the illness of ME/CFS patients in Lyndonville NY.{{cite web | author=Bellini J. | title =The Puzzle of Chronic Fatigue | work =Video | publisher =WSJ | date =March 5, 2011 | url =https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704005404576176823580854478?mod=wsj_share_facebook#articleTabs%3Dvideo | access-date = 2011-03-05}}

Bell currently serves on the Open Medicine Foundation Scientific Advisory Board, which is committed to ending ME/CFS.{{cite web | title = Open Medicine Foundation Scientific Advisory Board | url = https://www.omf.ngo/scientific-advisory-board/ | access-date = 2018-07-03}}

David Sheffield Bell

Training

Work on ME/CFS

References

Further reading