| Chronic
fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a condition that has become widespread in
the United States. Symptoms associated with CFS include aching muscles and joints,
anxiety,
depression, difficulty concentrating, fever, headaches, intestinal problems, irritability,
jaundice, loss of appetite, mood swings, muscle spasms, recurrent upper respiratory tract
infections, sensitivity to light and heat, sleeping problems, sore throat, swollen glands (lymph nodes),
temporary
memory loss and most of all, extreme and often disabling fatigue. The symptoms of this syndrome resemble those of flu and other viral infections, so it is often mistaken for other disorders. It is often misdiagnosed as hypochondria, psychosomatic illness, or depression, because routine medical tests do not detect any problems. The syndrome is three times more prevalent in women than in men, and primarily affects young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years old. A good indicator of chronic fatigue syndrome is persistent fatigue that is not helped by sleep and that is severe enough to lower your average daily activity by at least 50%. The cause or causes of chronic fatigue syndrome are not well understood. Some experts believe it is linked to infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes virus family that is also the cause of mononucleosis. This belief is based in large part on the fact that many people with chronic fatigue syndrome have been found to have high levels of EBV antibodies in their blood, and that many people date the onset of symptoms to a prolonged bout with a viral infection. However, no connection between EBV and chronic fatigue has ever been conclusively proved. Moreover, it is now known that many people have high EBV antibody levels without any apparent ill effects on their health, and that many cases of chronic fatigue occur without any known preceding infection. This has led researchers to look for other possible causes. Some suspect an as yet unidentified immune system problem, or a defect in the mechanisms that regulate blood pressure. Other proposed causes of chronic fatigue syndrome include anemia, chronic mercury poisoning from amalgam dental fillings, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, infection with the fungus Candida and sleep problems. Fibromyalgia, a muscle disorder that causes muscle weakness and fatigue, has been found in many people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Intestinal parasites are also comparatively common in people with this condition. It is likely that there are different combinations of factors that can result in chronic fatigue in susceptible individuals. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|