Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a complex disease, with multiple symptoms and manifestations, and of which very little is known about its origin and treatment. Hence, it still constitutes a very big mystery within the scientific community.
Curiously, in the 70s and 80s it was called the yuppie flu, since it mainly affected young workers who lived in the city and whose stress and fast pace of life caused them intense exhaustion.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) It is an alteration that causes the person to feel extremely tired or fatigued which can prevent the person from being able to carry out any usual activity or task.
To distinguish chronic fatigue from intense tiredness, the person must have symptoms for more than six months. Furthermore, if it tries to alleviate them through rest, or physical or mental tasks, it is very likely that it will even get worse.
This disease is constituted as a chronic condition, extremely complex and whose causes are still clear, interfering with the cardiovascular, endocrine, neurological and immune system.
Today, It is speculated that this condition affects about 0.5% of the world’s population, with women being the most affected in 90% of cases. Besides. It usually appears along with other diseases such as fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome.
Other names for chronic fatigue (CFS) are myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or systemic exercise intolerance disease (ESIE).
As noted above, to consider this fatigue as extreme fatigue syndrome, it must last for at least six months. The patient affected by chronic fatigue syndrome presents, among many others, the following symptoms:
Thus, the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome can be noticeable in many aspects of life and affect both the way in which the person relates to others and their way of interacting with elements of the environment in which they live, which which has an impact on their achievement of objectives, their self-image, etc.
Causes
Some time ago, chronic fatigue was considered a psychosomatic disorder However, it has now been accepted that it cannot be considered a psychiatric disorder, but rather as a disease with an organic basis but whose causes are not yet fully known.
Despite the large amount of research into chronic fatigue syndrome worldwide, the origin of this phenomenon is still far from being discovered. Even so, some research has obtained reliable conclusions that suggest that oxidative stress is an important element of the disease, despite not knowing whether this is a cause or a consequence of CFS.
A study carried out in 2001 concluded that an increase in both nitrous oxide (NO) and peroxynitrites would be linked to the origin of several diseases, including chronic fatigue syndrome, post-traumatic stress and multiple chemical sensitivity.
With the passage of time and the advancement of science, it was hypothesized that an accelerated pace of life and a poor diet, among other causes, would cause abnormal development of the candidiasis fungus, thus triggering chronic fatigue syndrome. However, this theory has been widely criticized and disproved.
Besides, Some studies speculate that toxic substances found in the environment and chemical elements present in some foods also contribute to weakening the person and causing CFS.
Finally, the influence of sleep quality, recurrent physical and psychological stress or some disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder has also been pointed out.
Diagnosis
Chronic fatigue syndrome is notable for its difficult diagnosis. For a better assessment of the patient’s condition, the clinician should begin by taking a medical history and performing a physical examination, with the aim of ruling out any disease hidden behind these symptoms.
If we take into account that between 39% and 47% of patients with CFS also suffer from depression, it is necessary that an assessment of the patient’s mental state also be carried out. As well as ruling out a possible influence of some drugs through blood and urine tests.
Despite the difficulties involved in diagnosing CFS, there are eight criteria developed over time, and although there is no consensus on which of them is most effective, there are two methods that stand out above the rest. These are the diagnostic criteria of Fukuda (1994) and other more recent ones developed by the United States National Academy of Medicine (2015).
Fukuda’s diagnostic criteria (1994)
In order to be able to diagnose CFS according to these criteria, the patient must present:
1. Intense fatigue
Chronic and intense fatigue for at least six months and for no apparent reason. Furthermore, this fatigue does not subside with rest.
2. Rule out other conditions that could cause fatigue
Exclude any illness that is a potential cause of feeling tired.
3. Present at least four of the following signs for six or more months:
Diagnostic criteria of the National Academy of Medicine of the United States (2015)
These guidelines, much more current, were the first to highlight the possible organic features of the disease.
According to this organization, to make a valid diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome, the patient must present the following symptoms:
Other aspects to take into account in the diagnosis are the frequency and degree to which these occur, and they must occur, at least half of the time, in a primary or severe form.
Treatment
Since it is a chronic disease, there is no remedy for it. However, drug therapy to manage symptoms such as muscle pain, sleep disturbance, anxiety or depression has proven to be effective, improving the symptoms over time.
That is, the health intervention is of a palliative type, to cushion the impact that the disease has on the quality of life and prevent it from generating additional problems that do not have to exist with effective management of the symptoms and the interaction with the patient. around.
Likewise, cognitive-behavioral intervention to work on emotional aspects, and dietary re-education, can also be successful as a complement to pharmacological treatment.
