Take the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Quiz
We all get tired. Many of us have felt depressed at times. But the mystery known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is not like the normal ups and downs we experience in everyday life.
1. For many people, chronic
fatigue syndrome can begin when?
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For other people, CFS develops after a bout of infectious mononucleosis ("mono"), which temporarily saps the energy of many teenagers and young adults. Often, people say that their illnesses started during a period of high
stress. In others, CFS develops more gradually, with no clear illness or other event starting it.
3. Which of these is not a typical symptom of CFS?
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Typical symptoms include muscle and joint aches, fatigue, and weakness. Other possible symptoms include
abdominal pain, alcohol intolerance, bloating,
chest pain, chronic cough,
diarrhea,
dizziness, dry eyes or mouth, earaches, irregular heartbeat, jaw pain, morning stiffness,
nausea, night sweats, psychological problems such as panic attacks,
shortness of breath, skin sensations, tingling sensations, and weight loss. CFS symptoms either hang on or come and go frequently for more than six months. For most people, CFS symptoms plateau early in the course of illness and thereafter wax and wane.
4. Who is most likely to get CFS?
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Women are three to four times more likely to develop CFS than men, but researchers aren't sure why this is so. When the disease was identified in the early 1980s, it was called the "yuppie flu," because most of those diagnosed were well-educated, well-off women in their 30s and 40s. Since then, doctors and researchers have found it in both men and women, of all races, ethnic groups, and ages, although it is still more prevalent in women. There is evidence that the disease (under other names) has been around at least since the 1800s. In the 1860s, physician George Beard named the syndrome "neurasthenia," because he thought it was a nervous disorder that caused weakness and fatigue. CFS also is known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, postviral fatigue syndrome, and chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome.
6. What is the main cause of CFS?
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Scientists are not sure what causes CFS, although many theories have been put forth, including
anemia, hypoglycemia,
allergies, yeast infections, and the Epstein-Barr virus. At this time, no one knows the cause, although CFS seems to involve interactions between the immune and central nervous systems. It does not appear to be an infectious disease, passed from one person to another.
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