About Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a real
and often misunderstood disorder, characterized by variable but
often severe flu-like fatigue, exertion intolerance, headaches,
dizziness, cognitive dysfunction, and mild to moderate symptoms
of infection or allergy such as sore or scratchy throat, tender
lymph nodes, low grade fever, joint and muscle aches. Symptoms
are worsened by physical or emotional "stress" and certain types
of activity, especially aerobic exercise. CFS typically has a
distinct period of onset, striking men and women, young to
middle aged, often during periods of additional stress (such as
starting college, going abroad on a mission, or attending
graduate school).
The prevalence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in this country is
probably between 1-10 cases per 1000 in the population. For
example, researchers at DePaul University estimate that Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome affects four out of every 1000 people in the
United States, with 90% of these cases largely undiagnosed and
untreated. Most research suggests that CFS is three times more
common in women than men (5.2 women out of 1,000), a rate that
is similar to autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple
sclerosis. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is four times as common as
HIV infection and poses a higher lifetime risk of lung cancer in
women. There may be more than a million cases in the United
States. Based on a population of 1,514,417 adults (over the age
of 18) in the state of Utah, this amounts to 6,000 cases of
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 90% of which may be undiagnosed and
not properly treated.
Those who become ill are often rendered completely disabled
from school or work, in the prime of active life, and may remain
sick for years. At this point, very little has been proven
regarding the exact cause, natural history, and treatment of the
illness. A large and growing body of published scientific
evidence exists supporting dysfunction in the immune system, the
central nervous system, aspects of the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous
system, and a genetic risk of tendency to develop the disorder.
The case definition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was initially
published in 1988, revised in 1994, and is recognized by
knowledgeable physicians, the Center for Disease Control (CDC),
the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Surgeon General
of the United States. Good research regarding Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome is ongoing at major universities in the United States
and around the world.
|
