Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is Increasing

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

According to the CDC more than 3 million Americans suffer from the complex of symptoms that has been defined as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This illness is characterized by extreme tiredness over an extended period of time-generally defined as greater than 6 months without another clear medical reason to attribute it to.

The recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome affects about 3.3 million U.S. adults, up from as many as 2.5 million when calculated in the  study published in the previous year.

CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is a complex, multisystem illness characterized by a number of symptoms that appear with fatigue, and the worsening of that fatigue with activity.

Difficult to Diagnose and Treat

It is still felt that Chronic fatigue syndrome is something of a mystery to the medical profession. Indeed it is often misunderstood and might not be taken seriously by some healthcare providers. Some providers will attribute the fatigue to generalized stress or depression. Most medical schools in America do not teach Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as part of their curriculum in training future physicians. Physician researcher Michael Zeineh, MD, says, “Certainly a lot of patients have experienced dismissal or disregard, with some healthcare providers lumping it all into being psychological.” His research explores  brain structure differences in patients with chronic fatigue. “There’s a real syndrome going on here” he says, “we just don’t fully understand it.”

While there are no blood tests or scans to identify the disease, the CDC has laid out for health professionals their detailed diagnosis criteria.  Symptoms of sufferers of CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) can vary greatly and may include:

• • Exhaustion lasting more than six months

Worsening of symptoms after physical or mental activity

• Muscle or joint pain
• Cognitive impairment
• Unrefreshing sleep
• Dizziness

It affects all age, sex, and racial and ethnic groups  based on data from the 2021–2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Women were more likely than men to have CFS.

New research highlights that the likelihood of getting CFS increases with age, with the highest percentage having it between ages 50 and 69. Disease rates decreased with higher family income and as places of residence became more metropolitan and less rural.

The CDC notes that about 90 percent of people with CFS have not been diagnosed, “especially among people from racial and ethnic minority groups.” It is felt that the recent increase in the diagnosis of CFS may be due in part to the fact that the Covid pandemic was accompanied by the rise of Chronic Fatigue associated with Covid illness now dubbed ” long COVID“. Long Covid may present with many of the  symptoms characteristic of CFS such as persistent fatigue, cognitive problems, headaches, and disrupted sleep. Research from earlier this year comparing the two illnesses highlighted that most symptoms are almost identical. Some problems such as decreased smell and taste, rashes, and hair loss are much more likely with long COVID which may present a distinguishing factor allowing a more specific diagnosis.

For a proper diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome the following three symptoms are required:

Significant reduction or impairment of the ability to engage in pre-illness levels of activity that: lasts for more than 6 months and is accompanied by fatigue that is: