Physical Wellness

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Real: Signs And Symptoms Revealed

By Yang Llaneza | Update Date: Nov 28, 2016 09:10 AM EST

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is officially called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). This condition involves extreme levels of fatigue, which can last for a long period of time. This can disrupt a person's life on a daily basis, having rest cannot help alleviate the symptoms. It can affect 17 million people worldwide.

Last 2015, American Institute of Medicine defined ME as an acquired, chronic multi-systemic diseases biological in nature. Symptoms include immune neurological and cognitive impairment. Though there is no proven cause yet and no official diagnostic test, most cases seem to be triggered by viral infections like glandular fever. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been around since the 20th century. During the outbreak, it hit the royal free hospital in London in the 1950s.

This was followed by Lake Tahoe; Nevada in the 1980s where the epidemic was nicknamed "Raggedy Ann". Since then Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME cases started to crop up all over the world. Living with chronic fatigue syndrome can make you feel tired all the time. But it is much more than just being tired. Like other cases, chronic fatigue syndrome may also be triggered by mumps along with headaches and a foggy feeling in the brain.

In 2011, a study was published in a medical journal The Lancet. The journal originally suggested that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome could be made better with proper exercise. Years later, however, an analysis of the data showed that as long as you're already getting standard medical care, there will only be a 10 percent chance of being helped by treatment. Also, the chances of recovery might be impossible for those suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

As reported by BBC one in 100 children also miss at least one day of class a week because of chronic fatigue syndrome, for adults, this becomes more complicated. A survey in the UK carried out by the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME association early this year found that 46 percent of patients thought that care provided by their GP for chronic fatigue syndrome was either poor or dreadful according to The Guardian.

In 2015 the national institute of health in the US launched plans to research on people with this illness together with director Francis Collins and he stated that ME/CFS is one of the most challenging but he is hopeful that renewed research focus can lead them towards identifying the cause of this debilitating disease so that new prevention and treatment strategies can be developed.

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