Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Causes, Symptoms and Prevention

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Causes, Symptoms and Prevention-Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is essentially a very debilitating disease that can cause persistent fatigue leading to deterioration of productive activity of the sufferer along with loss of quality of life, mental peace and happiness. It can pose a very serious threat to health.

 

Fatigue, even persistent fatigue, can be a common symptom of many medical conditions, but CFS is remarkably different from these conditions in many aspects. The most important being the severity of persistent fatigue with a sudden onset that is precipitated but not relieved by rest and the absence of any other fatigue producing medical condition. This CFS has been recognized as an independent clinical entity

Causes of Chronic fatigue syndrome

The cause of CFS is unknown, but the condition may be related to infection with effects on the immune system. Several viruses have been studied as possible causes of CFS, but no cause-and-effect relationship has been discovered.

Some evidence indicates that the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae (which causes pneumonia and other illnesses) may be a cause of CFS in some cases.

People with chronic fatigue syndrome related to C. pneumoniae are most likely to respond to antibiotics that kill C. pneumoniae, and their CFS symptoms may improve with antibiotic medications such as doxycycline.

Other conditions that cause symptoms similar to those of CFS must be ruled out. These include the following:

Adrenal insufficiency,Malignancy,AIDS,Liver disease,Kidney disease,Psychosomatic illness,Lyme disease,Fibromyalgia,Hepatitis C, andThyroid disease.

Risk factors for Chronic fatigue syndrome

Factors that may increase your risk of chronic fatigue syndrome include:

Chronic fatigue syndrome can occur at any age, but it most commonly affects people in their 40s and 50s.

Women are diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome much more often than men, but it may be that women are simply more likely to report their symptoms to a doctor.

Difficulty managing stress may contribute to the development of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Complications of Chronic fatigue syndrome

Possible complications of chronic fatigue syndrome include:

DepressionSocial isolationLifestyle restrictionsIncreased work absences

Signs and symptoms of Chronic fatigue syndrome

The main symptom is fatigue or exhaustion. The fatigue is always of new onset which means that it was not present to any significant degree in the past. The duration of the fatigue is prolonged and to qualify as CFS it must be of more than 6 months duration.

The commonest symptoms being impaired memory or concentration, postexertional malaise (PEM), unrefreshing sleep, myalgia, arthralgia, headache of new kind or of greater severity, frequent sore throat and tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes.

Certain other symptoms which are rare can also occur in CFS. Some of these are quite varied in nature:

Irritable bowel, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or bloating

Chills and night sweats

Brain fog

Chest pain

Shortness of breath

Chronic cough

Visual disturbances (blurring, sensitivity to light, eye pain or dry eyes)

Allergies or sensitivities to foods, alcohol, odors, chemicals, medications or noise

Preventions of Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can’t be prevented or cured. But treatment can help control or reduce symptoms.