Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Contents 1 What is it? 2 Symptoms 3 Causes 4 Who gets it? 5 How is it diagnosed? 6 Treatment 7 What is the long-term prognosis? 8 References

What is it?

Chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS, is a disorder which is characterized by severe fatigue, concentration difficulties, and often immune system imbalance. CFS is sometimes referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis, post-viral fatigue syndrome, or "yuppie flu". Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a complex disorder which has no known cause or cure at this moment and there is no biological test that can lead to its diagnosis.

Symptoms

The symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome can vary from person to person, but can include:

• Fatigue: CFS sufferers experience severe fatigue (physical and mental) which is not relieved by rest or sleep.
• Cognitive: CFS Patients experience concentration problems like confusion, memory lapses, difficulty thinking clearly. This is often refered to as"brain fog".
• Pain: Many, but not all CFS patients experience muscle and joint pain. Some severly, some mild. This is often associated with the closely linked illness fibromyaliga.
• Insomnia: CFS can cause insomnia and an irregular sleep schedule.

Causes

There are no known causes at this time, but there are some emerging theories as to the roots of this illness.

• Bacterial, Viral,or Fungal infection: Many people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have infectious agents in their systems. These agents include (and are not limited to): Epstein Barr, HHV6, Mycoplasma, Cytomegalovirus and others.Some patients improve with the treatment of these infectious agents, some do not.
• Orthostatic Intolerance: Also called dysautonomia. This causes dizziness, or fainting when a patient moves from a sitting to standing position. This can be diagnosed with a "tilt table test" and often be treated by beta-adrenergic blocking drugs.

Who gets it?

CFS occurs most often in women (this may be the result of hormonal influences), but can occur with a sudden or gradual onset in patients of any age.

How is it diagnosed?

There is currently no biological test that can give a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It is only diagnosed by excluding all other factors and diagnoses.

Treatment

Currently the most popular forms of treatment for CFS are alternative medical treatments such as: nutritional supplementation, testing and removal of hidden food allegies, and various forms of detox. There are also some emerging medical treatments and protocols such as:

• Garth Nicholson Protocol: This treatment focuses on treating any occurances of mycoplasma infections with antibiotics like amoxicillin and doxycycline. Patients are encouraged to stay on this proocol for 6 months to a year.
• Methylation Cycle Block Treatment: With new research out of Dubbo Ausralia, a new treatment focusing on using nutritional supplements to rebuild the methylation cycle. Blog post by patient currently on this protocol
• Alfred Blasi Protocol: This protocol consists of supplementation of a particular ration of minerals with a drink called recuperation. This drink contains sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium in a particular ratio which may or may not help restore abnormal ion channel function.

What is the long-term prognosis?

The long term prognosis for CFS is mixed. Some patients can spontaneouly recover (mostly occurs in sudden or viral onset). Others can go into periods of remission, while most remain ill.

References

• PubMed Article Decreased Natural Killer Cell Activity in CFS
• Nitric Oxide and CFS Increased Nitric Oxide and Free Radical Formation in CFS patients
• Autism Treatments & CFS CFS and Autism may have some biochemical similarities. This article discuss their reation and nutritional treatment.
• NMDA Receptor Activation & CFS Discussion on the treatment of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue with NMDA Receptor antagonists
• Ion Channel Dysfunction Article on viral infections causing ion channel and immunological dysfunctions.