Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | HealthInfi

Overview

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an illness characterized by prolonged, debilitating fatigue that does not improve with rest and worsens with physical or mental activity. It is also characterized by multiple nonspecific symptoms such as headaches, recurrent sore throats, muscle and joint pains, and memory and concentration difficulties.

CFS can be hard to diagnose, and its cause or causes are unknown. Even its name can be confusing: CFS is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME or ME/CFS or CFS/ME), as well as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS).

Profound fatigue, the hallmark of the disorder, can come on suddenly or gradually and persists or recurs throughout the period of illness. Unlike the short-term disability of an illness such as the flu, by definition CFS symptoms must have lasted for at least six months. They often linger for years.

CFS affects women at about four times the rate that it affects men, and the illness is diagnosed more often in people in their 40s and 50s. It can affect any sex, race or socioeconomic class. Research shows that it is at least as common in Hispanics and African Americans as it is in Caucasians. And although CFS is less common in children than in adults, children can develop the illness, particularly during the teen years. It can be as disabling as multiple sclerosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The prevalence of CFS is difficult to measure because the illness can be difficult to diagnose, but, in general, it is estimated that at least 1 million people in the United States have CFS, according to the CDC. CFS is sometimes seen in members of the same family, suggesting there may be a genetic link; more research is needed to prove this link.

CFS does not appear to be a new illness, although it only recently was assigned a name. Relatively small outbreaks of similar disorders have been described in medical literature since the 1930s. Furthermore, case reports of comparable illnesses date back several centuries.

Interest in CFS was renewed in the mid-1980s after several studies found slightly higher levels of antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in people with CFS-like symptoms than in healthy individuals. Most of these people had experienced an episode of infectious mononucleosis (sometimes called mono or the “kissing disease”) a few years before they began to experience the chronic, incapacitating symptoms of CFS. As a result, for a time, the CFS-like illness became popularly termed “chronic EBV.”

Further investigation revealed that elevated EBV antibodies were not indicative of CFS, since healthy people have EBV antibodies and some people with CFS don’t have elevated levels of EBV antibodies.

The international group organized by the CDC named the illness chronic fatigue syndrome because the name reflects the most common symptom: long-term, persistent fatigue. It is important to note, however, that the word “fatigue” may be extremely misleading. Fatigue is but one symptom among many that make up this illness, and it doesn’t reflect the significance of other disabling symptoms. The word also adds to generalized misunderstanding and trivialization of the illness. Use of the name
ME/CFS is becoming more common.Read More