Myalgic encephalomyelitis
| Chronic fatigue syndrome | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), others |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Rheumatology |
| ICD-10 | G93.3 |
| ICD-9-CM | 323.9 780.71 |
| DiseasesDB | 1645 |
| MedlinePlus | 001244 |
| eMedicine | med/3392 ped/2795 |
| Patient UK | Chronic fatigue syndrome |
| MeSH | D015673 |
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a medical condition characterized by long-term fatigue and other symptoms that limit a person's ability to carry out ordinary daily activities.Quality of life of persons with CFS can be compromised.
Biological, genetic, infectious, and psychological mechanisms have been proposed, but the cause is not understood. The fatigue of CFS is not due to ongoing exertion, is not much relieved by rest, and is not due to any other medical condition. Diagnosis is based on a person's signs and symptoms.
Evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy and a gradual increase in activity suited to individual capacity can be beneficial in some cases. In a systematic review of exercise therapy, no evidence of serious adverse effects was found; however data was insufficient to form a conclusion. Tentative evidence support the use of the medication rintatolimod. The evidence, however, has been deemed insufficient for approval for this use in the United States.
Estimates of the number of people with the condition vary from 7 to 3,000 per 100,000 adults. About one million Americans and a quarter of a million people in the UK have CFS.Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but the fatigue experienced by persons with CFS is comparatively rare. CFS occurs more often in women than men, and is less common among children and adolescents. There is agreement that CFS has a negative effect on health, happiness and productivity but there is also controversy over many aspects of the disorder. Physicians, researchers and patient advocates promote different names and diagnostic criteria, while evidence for proposed causes and treatments is often contradictory or of low quality.
The most commonly used diagnostic criteria and definition of CFS for research and clinical purposes were published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC recommends the following three criteria be fulfilled:
Other common symptoms include:
The CDC proposes that persons with symptoms resembling those of CFS consult a physician to rule out several treatable illnesses: Lyme disease, "sleep disorders, major depressive disorder, alcohol/substance abuse, diabetes, hypothyroidism, mononucleosis (mono), lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic hepatitis and various malignancies." Medications can also cause side effects that mimic symptoms of CFS.
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Wikipedia