Re: CDC oks Chronic Fatigue

[Guest guest]

Here is some information from the CDC site about CFS. They did an

extensive study on this condition. The funny thing about it was all

done by phone interview. Golly gee folks, how silly are we to all go

to the doctor for a diagnosis/treatment when all we had to do was

participate in a survey. Dang the money we wasted. (almost all said

with tongue in cheek.grr)

http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/cfssymptomsHCP.htm or you can type in your

search engire CDC Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Symptoms

Chronic fatigue syndrome shares symptoms with many other disorders.

Fatigue, for instance, is found in hundreds of illnesses, and 10% to

25% of all patients who visit general practitioners complain of

prolonged fatigue. The nature of the symptoms, however, can help

clinicians differentiate CFS from other illnesses.

On this page

Primary Symptoms

Other Common Symptoms

Clinical Course

Diagnostic Resources

Primary Symptoms

As the name chronic fatigue syndrome suggests, this illness is

accompanied by fatigue. However, it's not the kind of fatigue

patients experience after a particularly busy day or week, after a

sleepless night or after a stressful event. It's a severe,

incapacitating fatigue that isn't improved by bed rest and that may

be exacerbated by physical or mental activity. It's an all-

encompassing fatigue that results in a dramatic decline in both

activity level and stamina.

People with CFS function at a significantly lower level of activity

than they were capable of prior to becoming ill. The illness results

in a substantial reduction in occupational, personal, social or

educational activities.

A CFS diagnosis should be considered in patients who present with

six months or more of unexplained fatigue accompanied by other

characteristic symptoms. These symptoms include:

cognitive dysfunction, including impaired memory or concentration

postexertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours (exhaustion and

increased symptoms) following physical or mental exercise

unrefreshing sleep

joint pain (without redness or swelling)

persistent muscle pain

headaches of a new type or severity

tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes

sore throat

Other Common Symptoms

In addition to the eight primary defining symptoms of CFS, a number

of other symptoms have been reported by some CFS patients. The

frequency of occurrence of these symptoms varies among patients.

These symptoms include:

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

difficulty maintaining upright position (orthostatic instability,

irregular heartbeat, dizziness, balance problems or fainting)

psychological problems (depression, irritability, mood swings,

anxiety, panic attacks)

jaw pain

weight loss or gain

Clinicians will need to consider whether such symptoms relate to a

comorbid or an exclusionary condition; they should not be considered

as part of CFS other than they can contribute to impaired

functioning.

Clinical Course

The severity of CFS varies from patient to patient, with some people

able to maintain fairly active lives. By definiton, however, CFS

significantly limits work, school and family activities.

While symptoms vary from person to person in number, type and

severity, all CFS patients are functionally impaired to some degree.

CDC studies show that CFS can be as disabling as multiple sclerosis,

lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, end-stage renal disease,

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and similar chronic

conditions.

CFS often follows a cyclical course, alternating between periods of

illness and relative well-being. Some patients experience partial or

complete remission of symptoms during the course of the illness, but

symptoms often reoccur. This pattern of remission and relapse makes

CFS especially hard for patients and their health care professionals

to manage. Patients who are in remission may be tempted to overdo

activities when they're feeling better, which can exacerbate

symptoms and fatigue and cause a relapse. In fact, postexertional

malaise is a hallmark of the illness.

The percentage of CFS patients who recover is unknown, but there is

some evidence to indicate that the sooner symptom management begins,

the better the chance of a positive therapeutic outcome. This means

early detection and treatment are of utmost importance. CDC research

indicates that delays in diagnosis and treatment may complicate and

prolong the clinical course of the illness.

Diagnostic Resources

Several resources have been created to assist health care

professionals in diagnosing and managing CFS. These resources can be

accessed below:

CFS Toolkit: Fact Sheets for Health Care Professionals

Provider Resource Guide

PDF (2 Pages / 136 KB)

Page last modified on May 9, 2006

--- In , " ldelp84227 " <ldelp84227@...>

wrote:

>

> Did anyone see the CDC have a press conference about accepting

Chronic

> Fatigue as an illness. That was nice of them.

>

[Guest guest]

> _._,___This article

This article also recognizes, fibro, and MCS as a recognized disease

CDC recognition/validation/awareness campaign note: mcs is mentioned as

having similar symptoms

www.cdc.gov/cfs

http://news./s/nm/20061103/hl_nm/fatigue_dc_1

More than a million suffer chronic fatigue

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

Fri Nov 3, 6:22 PM ET

[Guest guest]

Clinical Trials on CFS, if they are still

recruiting but looks fairly current by makers of

Ampligen. Incidentally why does everyone put

spaces in their posts???

<http://communitydispatch.com/artman/publish/article_6836.shtml>

[Guest guest]

I meant to say, why does everyone put " spaces in

their links "

[Guest guest]

Funny thing, these symptoms perfectly describe sensitivity to mold to

a T.

Must just be a coincidence though! Those people at the CDC sure are a

sharp bunch when they want to be. I'm sure they wouldn't have missed

this seemingly obvious connection. Most the time they are dealing with

mysteries, sick people, don't know why. In the case of mold you have

desperately ill people and a pathogen. Doesn't get much easier than

this folks. Clearly everyone here is either a lier or they have some

type of psychosomatic disorder, including myself.

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 13:00:14 -0000, you wrote:

>Here is some information from the CDC site about CFS. They did an

>extensive study on this condition. The funny thing about it was all

>done by phone interview. Golly gee folks, how silly are we to all go

>to the doctor for a diagnosis/treatment when all we had to do was

>participate in a survey. Dang the money we wasted. (almost all said

>with tongue in cheek.grr)

>

>http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/cfssymptomsHCP.htm or you can type in your

>search engire CDC Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

>

>

>Symptoms

>Chronic fatigue syndrome shares symptoms with many other disorders.

>Fatigue, for instance, is found in hundreds of illnesses, and 10% to