UNIVERSAL HEALTH: Exhausted?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was considered a "yuppie" disease in the early 1980's because it was white, professional women in their thirties and forties who sought help for it. Today Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is poorly understood but makes functioning normally very difficult for the people who live with it. Going to and participating in work and social or family activities is a constant struggle. The fatigue does not improve much with good rest.

•  Usually diagnosed in people between 25 and 45 years of age
• People who develop CFS seem to be prone to orthostatic hypotension, which means that the heart rate increases and blood pressure drops when standing or sitting up
• Research suggests that stress and seasonal changes affect the development of this syndrome

The cause of Chronic Fatigue Sydrome remains unknown, although CFS begins after helatiris, bronchitis, a cold or gastroenteritis. It is very possible that other viruses and infections play a role in the contribution of some CFS cases.

Currently there is no evidence to support a clear cause-and-effect relationship between infectious diseases and CFS, nor does any scientific evidence exist to suggest that CFS is contagious.

CFS seems to involve interactions between the immune and central nervous systems. It may be that a genetically predisposed person’s immune system is compromised, for example, stress. Then when the person comes in contact with a virus, bacteria, or toxin the body’s normal functions are disrupted, resulting in flulike symptoms, pain, and cognitive problems result from injury to the central nervous system. The exact extent of these factors in chronic fatigue syndrome is not clear.

CFS is severe fatigue that lasts at least 6 months that does not improve significantly with rest.  The fatigue must be severe enough to interfere with daily work, educational, recreational, and social activities.

This fatigue can begin suddenly over 24 to 48 hours or can develop slowly over weeks or months.

Depression is also common, and is considered a result of living with the chronic illness. Many patients report mild to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression, often occurring well after other symptoms  although CFS is not simply a form of depression.

The condition can improve for a time and then worsen, or it may disappear entirely.  Some people improve within a year or two and do not have a relapse, and others have the symptoms for many years.

After more than a decade of research, the cause of CFS is still unknown. Laboratory or imaging tests for the syndrome do not exist, a diagnosis is reached only after all other conditions that cause fatigue have been ruled out. Fatigue is an extremely common, non-specific problem, and can have many causes, including stress, sleep disorders, lack of exercise, or another physical condition ranging from cancer to anorexia nervosa.

The diagnosis of CFS is based on a medical history and physical examination. To be diagnosed with CFS, a person must have fatigue and at least 4 of the 8 associated symptoms, all starting as or after the fatigue began, lasting at least 6 months.