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Page: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome (PVFS), and various other names, is a syndrome (or group of syndromes) of unknown and possibly multiple etiologies, affecting the central nervous system (CNS) and possibly the immune system as well as other organs.
There is no simple diagnostic test for CFS, CFS is a diagnosis of exclusion, as it has no single known etiology, or trigger for the syndrome. Most definitions (other than the 1991 UK Oxford criteria) require a number of features, the most common being severe mental and physical exhaustion or depletion which is "unrelieved by rest" (according to the 1994 Fukuda definition), and is often worsened by even trivial exertion (controversially, the Oxford and Fukuda criteria require this to be optional only).
CFS occurs more often, but not exclusively, in women, for unknown reasons. CFS is most easily diagnosed when formerly active adults become ill, and is most commonly diagnosed in young to middle aged adults, although it is also reported, albeit less commonly, in adolescents and the elderly.
Patients with this diagnosis may report many other symptoms which are far more wide-ranging than these research diagnostic criteria, including: muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, hypersensitivity, orthostatic intolerance, digestive disturbances, depression, immune system weakness, and cardiac and respiratory problems. However, these symptoms may represent comorbid or overlapping conditions rather than ME/CFS itself.
These symptoms, like the syndrome's hallmark 'fatigue,' range from mild to severe. Some cases resolve or improve over time, and where available, treatments bring a degree of improvement to many others. Most diagnostic criteria insist that the symptoms must be present for at least six months, and all insist on there being no other cause for the fatigue: i.e. the fatigue must be idiopathic, not caused by conditions such as radiation treatment for cancer, or diabetes. CFS remains a controversial diagnosis, and even its terminology and classification are controversial. Recently, genetics and stress have been found to be factors in the development of CFS.
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