Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Subscribe)  

Fatigue is a ubiquitous symptom that is important to patients and has a major impact on their quality of life. This is a BMJ review. BMJ 2002;325:480-483 Michael Sharpe, David Wilks

This past week, a fascinating article came out regarding chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Published in Science, "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", the article links chronic fatigue syndrome with a recently identified retrovirus. CFS has been a challenge for patients and...

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a heterogeneous disorder with unknown pathogenesis and etiology, characterized by disabling fatigue, difficulty in concentration and memory, and concomitant skeletal and muscular pain. Several mechanisms have been suggested to play a role in CFS[1], such as excessive oxidative stress following exertion, immune imbalance characterized by decreased...

CME based review of CFS

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disorder of unknown etiology that probably has an infectious basis. CFS is characterized by a state of chronic fatigue that persists for more than 6 months, has no clear cause, and is accompanied by cognitive difficulties.
Various unrelated infectious diseases (eg, pneumonia, Epstein-Barr virus [EBV]...

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms in clinical medicine; nevertheless, fatigue may be difficult to define because it is rather loosely partitioned into physical and mental components. Fatigue often proves evanescent or, if chronic, relates to an underlying systemic illness. Fatigue may also be associated with a psychiatric...

A previously well 36-year old woman taking no medications presented to her primary care physician's office with a complaint of unusual generalized fatigue. It had progressed over 8 months, was exacerbated by physical and mental activities and was not relieved by rest. The patient had a history of anemia during...

BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2004 Dec 8;5:47. Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis hormones and cortisol in both menstrual phases of women with chronic fatigue syndrome and effect of depressive mood on these hormones. Cevik R, Gur A, Acar S, Nas K, Sarac AJ.

Over the last five years, there has been a marked increase in the size and quality of the evidence base on interventions for CFS/ME. Some behavioural interventions have shown promising results in reducing the symptoms of CFS/ME and improving physical functioning. There is a need for research to define the...

Post-infective and chronic fatigue syndromes precipitated by viral and non-viral pathogens: prospective cohort study. Hickie I, Davenport T, Wakefield D, Vollmer-Conna U, Cameron B, Vernon SD, Reeves WC, Lloyd A; Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study Group. BMJ. 2006 Sep 16;333(7568):575.

Some 10 million Americans may carry a recently discovered retrovirus now linked to chronic fatigue syndrome.
The virus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus or XMRV, was detected in 67% of 101 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome by Vincent C. Lombardi, PhD, of the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno, Nev., and colleagues.
The...

CFS patients had significant differences in polysomnographic findings from healthy controls and felt sleepier and more fatigued than controls after a night's sleep. This difference was due neither to diagnosable sleep disorders nor to coexisting fibromyalgia but primarily to a decrease in the length of periods of uninterrupted sleep in...

Family physicians obtain information about CFS/ME from their nonprofessional world, which they incorporate into their professional realm. Patients and physicians describe the use of the discourse of science within consultations about CFS/ME. This form of shared understanding could lead to a positive collaborative interaction. Family physicians need a biomedical, evidence-based...