Another Name For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What Is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

“Myalgic encephalomyelitis” is another name for chronic fatigue syndrome. It means muscle pain with brain and spinal cord inflammation. This term is used in part because its more descriptive of the illness. Its also because ME/CFS is now considered a disease, not a syndrome.

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Diagnosis Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Clinical criteria

• Laboratory evaluation to exclude non-CFS disorders

The diagnosis of CFS is made by the characteristic history combined with a normal physical examination and normal laboratory test results. Any abnormal physical findings or laboratory tests must be evaluated and alternative diagnoses that cause those findings and/or the patient’s symptoms excluded before the diagnosis of CFS can be made. The case definition is often useful but should be considered an epidemiologic and research tool and in some circumstances should not be strictly applied to individual patients.

In February 2015, the Institute of Medicine published an extensive review of this disease called Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness. In this review, they proposed a new name, systemic exertion intolerance disease , and new diagnostic criteria that simplified the diagnosis and emphasized the most consistent features. In addition, the review clearly emphasized the validity of this debilitating disease.

Getting Older And Me/cfs

There is very little information on getting older and ME/CFS, however people can develop ME/CFS at any age. Additionally, all of the strategies such as pacing to reduce PEM and managing symptoms still apply. As people age, other problems with their health may also arise, so discussing any new symptoms with their doctor important.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Gets Yet Another Name

By Andy Coghlan

Whats in a name? Chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that debilitates as many as 2.5 million people in the US with exhaustion, should be renamed systemic exertion intolerance disease, according to the US Institute of Medicine .

As well as the name-change, the IOM has this week proposed a five-point checklist for diagnosis. Because the cause of the condition, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, remains unknown, identifying the condition can be difficult.

Our goal was to facilitate diagnosis, says Ellen Wright Clayton of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and chair of the panel that drafted the report. We hope these evidence-based diagnostic criteria provide a new foundation for future research regarding cause and treatment.

Simon Wessely at Kings College London welcomes the criteria, but is less convinced by the name-change. Im concerned it may add to, not reduce, confusion around this condition, he says.

This article will appear in print under the headline Fatigue checklist

More on these topics:

Are You Tired All The Time Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Did you know that hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps chronic fatigue syndrome?

Tiredness, weariness, lethargy, and exhaustion are all symptoms indicating a lack of energy.

It may be accompanied by depression, diminished motivation, or apathetic mood.

In the most typical cases, inadequate sleep, overexertion, overworking, stress, lack of exercise, or boredom can all result in a lack of energy.

Issues like these are often resolved with rest, better sleeping habits, stress management, and decent nutrition.

However, a persistent lack of energy that does not alleviate with self-care may be a symptom of an underlying health or psychological issue.

Allergies and asthma, anemia, cancer, and its treatments, chronic pain, heart illness, infection, depression, eating disorders, bereavement, sleeping difficulties, thyroid problems, medication side effects, and alcohol or drug usage are also common reasons.

Constant exhaustion without a clear cause may result from a flu-like sickness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome .

Other typical symptoms include cognitive difficulties, prolonged weariness and illness after activity, muscle or joint discomfort, sore throat, headache, and painful lymph nodes.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy seeks to address this by increasing cellular energy production to alleviate the general fatigue and pain that patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome experience.

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Numeric Rating Scales Show Prolonged Post

• 2Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
• 3Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis , Amsterdam, Netherlands

Introduction: Muscle pain, fatigue, and concentration problems are common among individuals with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome . These symptoms are commonly increased as part of the phenomenon of postexertional malaise . An increase in the severity of these symptoms is described following physical or mental exercise in ME/CFS patients. Another important symptom of ME/CFS is orthostatic intolerance, which can be detected by head-up tilt testing . The effect of HUT on PEM has not been studied extensively. For this purpose, we assessed numeric rating scales for pain, fatigue, and concentration pre- and post-HUT. As pain is a core symptom in fibromyalgia , we subgrouped ME/CFS patients by the presence or absence of FM.

NRS scores of pain, fatigue, and concentration were significantly increased even at 7 days post-HUT compared with pre-HUT in ME/CFS patients with and without FM, suggesting that orthostatic stress is an important determinant of PEM.

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Health Care Costs And Utilization

Patients with ME/CFS spend considerably more on health care than thegeneral medical patient population . They also see morephysicians and visit their health care providers more often relative tothe general medical patient population . Manypatients report barriers to accessing health care as well, including thenature of their illness and financial considerations .

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How Is Cfs Diagnosed

CFS is a very challenging condition to diagnose.

According to the Institute of Medicine, as of 2015, CFS occurs in about 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans. Its estimated, however, that 84 to 91 percent have yet to receive a diagnosis.

There are no medical tests to screen for CFS. Its symptoms are similar to many other conditions. Many people with CFS dont look sick, so doctors may not recognize that they indeed have a health condition.

In order to receive a CFS diagnosis, your doctor will rule out other potential causes and review your medical history with you.

Theyll confirm that you at least have the core symptoms previously mentioned. Theyll also ask about the duration and severity of your unexplained fatigue.

Ruling out other potential causes of your fatigue is a key part of the diagnosis process. Some conditions with symptoms that resemble those of CFS include:

• sleep disorders

The side effects of certain drugs, such as antihistamines and alcohol, can mimic symptoms of CFS as well.

Because of the similarities between symptoms of CFS and many other conditions, its important to not self-diagnose. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms. They can work with you to get relief.

How Can Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Help Increase Our Energy

Patients use hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic fatigue, to boost healing from injuries, to improve normal brain functioning after a concussion, and accelerate healing from a surgery or procedure.

The mitochondria in our cells operate similarly to a cars combustion engine.

Just like an engine needs fuel and oxygen to create energy in the form of combustion, our mitochondria need fuel and oxygen to create energy in the form of metabolism.

The efficiency of our metabolism largely benefits from a good intake of food and oxygen, as well as a good exhaust mechanism.

Having a healthy, balanced diet does wonders for our mitochondria, but we need a good source of oxygen as well. This is where Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy comes into play.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is an FDA-approved procedure that involves breathing 100% pure oxygen while inside a specially designed machine called a hyperbaric chamber.

These are typically tube-shaped chambers large enough to hold one person or a room that can accommodate multiple people.

The air pressure inside the chamber can be increased to higher than normal levels while the air inside is oxygenated to 100%.

This procedure should be conducted by trained professionals who know how to calibrate the pressure and oxygen levels safely.

Breathing this air in this high-pressure environment allows our lungs to collect more oxygen, saturating our red blood cells to their maximum oxygen capacity.

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Fibromyalgia What Is It

Fibromyalgia is a complex pain disorder that affects the musculoskeletal system, causing widespread chronic pain, aches and tenderness to touch. Fibromyalgia pain can be located in only one part of the body at a time, moving from one area to the next, or pain may be felt all over the body at the same time.

A chronic pain disorder, fibromyalgia heightens the sense of pain in an individual, and is accompanied by sleep issues, fatigue, digestive symptoms as well as mental and social problems.

More women are at the risk of developing fibromyalgia than are men. In fact, of the approximately 10 million Americans suffering from this condition, women are affected more than men with a ratio of about 8 to 2.

Although fibromyalgia is literally translated to mean pain in the tendons, ligaments, and muscles, this condition presents as much more than just pain, with a wide range of symptoms that vary from one person to another.

What Is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome is a complex and disabling disease. It has been classified as a neurological disorder by the World Health Organization, though it affects many parts of the body, including the brain and muscles, digestive, immune and cardiac systems.

The term myalgic encephalomyelitis means pain in the muscles, and inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. Scientists are starting to understand some of the biological changes in the bodies of people with ME/CFS, although they have not yet found how to prevent, or cure it.

Research has found that ME/CFS is associated with problems involving:

• The bodys ability to produce energy at a cellular level
• Immune, neurological and hormonal systems
• Blood pressure and heart rate regulation
• Cognition how quickly information is processed

ME/CFS affects men, women and children of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. 75-80% of people with the disease are female. It is estimated that up to 600,000 Victorians may be living with ME/CFS, and as many as 90% are undiagnosed.

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Where Can I Get Support

ME/CFS can have a significant emotional and financial impact on your life. A lack of understanding and awareness about ME/CFS means patients can experience disbelief, and even discrimination, from friends, family, health and social care professionals and employers.

Information on entitlements to welfare benefits, accessing health and social care and others sources of support for patients and carers are available from Action for M.E. They also offer resources and services for children and young people affected by ME/CFS and their families.

The Role Of Mitochondria In Energy Production

Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cells biochemical reactions.

Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in a small molecule called adenosine triphosphate .

Mitochondria produces energy in a process called oxidative phosphorylation.

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How Is Me/cfs Diagnosed

There’s no single test to detect ME/CFS. A diagnosis is made after other possible known causes for symptoms have been excluded.

The earlier the illness is recognised, the sooner you can get help to manage your symptoms. Many people with ME/CFS find it helps to keep a diary of their symptoms so that they can take this to their GP or specialist.

Your GP will usually:

• do a physical and mental examination to rule out other conditions
• ask about recent travel, tick or insect bites, unusual infections, and drug and alcohol use
• review current medication

They may be able to make a diagnosis after 3 or 4 months of seeing a pattern of symptoms. Anyone suspected of having ME/CFS should be considered for routine blood tests to identify other possible illnesses. More investigation may be needed if the diagnosis remains in doubt.

Some people with ME/CFS also have another long-term condition and it’s important that you talk to your GP about how to manage the symptoms of the 2 conditions.

Difference Between Fibromyalgia And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

July 13, 2011 Posted by Dr.Dinusha

Fibromyalgia vs Chronic fatigue syndrome

Fatigue is a term to describe the awareness of a person related to the exhaustive physical and psychological effects due to variant pathologies, or as a physiological response. Here, the person experiences muscle pain, lethargy, tiredness, sleepiness etc. The physical fatigue is usual following strenuous exercise, or some pathological condition, also this may exist for a long time. The mental fatigue is experienced as a feeling of burn out, sleepiness, and can further its effects to depression as well. Fibromyalgia and Chronic fatigue syndrome are two of the least understood conditions, and we will discuss them in terms of cause, symptoms, diagnosis, and management.

Fibromyalgia

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What is the difference between Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Due to its unknown origin, people and health care professionals tend to dismiss regular complaints of aches and pains in females. But careful observations and investigations would help to cope with these conditions. Both these conditions are with constellations of non specific variant symptoms. But poor sleep, painful sites, pain stretched throughout the day are some of the symptoms that would point in the right direction.

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Children Young People And Me/cfs

ME/CFS can affect people of all ages, including the very young. Young people with ME/CFS, especially children under the age of ten, might have trouble knowing or articulating that something is wrong. They may not realise that their loss of stamina, or other symptoms they are experiencing, are not normal. Alternatively, they may not have the words to describe what they are feeling.

For both younger children and teenagers, schooling can be affected but ME/CFS is not school refusal. While school refusal can often be accompanied by physical complaints , and these complaints may tend to disappear when the young person stays home, the pattern is different with ME/CFS. In a young person with ME/CFS, some symptoms never ease and symptom exacerbation is triggered by activity. In ME/CFS, symptoms are likely to be worse after school attendance, and can reduce with pacing and rest, which includes time away from school or during holidays.

Some young people with ME/CFS can continue to attend school, and others may be too unwell for regular classroom attendance. Parents, healthcare providers, schools and the child or teenager need to work together to come up with a plan for the young persons continued education. This plan needs to take into account the energy limits of ME/CFS. Being creative and flexible is key and might include things like fewer subjects or school from home.

What Are The Symptoms Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Symptoms of CFS often mimic the flu. The following are the most common symptoms of CFS. However, each person may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:

• Sensitivity to light
• Low-grade fever

The symptoms of CFS may look like other medical conditions. Always talk with your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome And Mitochondrial Dysfunction Are They Linked

There is considerable evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is present in some Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients.

• Muscle biopsies from patients with CFS studied under electron microscopy have shown unusual amounts of mitochondrial damage and degeneration.
• They also showed severe deletions of genes in mitochondrial DNA , specifically genes that are crucial to the process of bioenergy production.
• Oxidative damage and increased activity of antioxidant enzymes were also detected in muscle specimens. Oxidative damage is caused by the increased production of free radicals which is linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.
• Some essential compounds, such as carnitine and N-acylcarnitine, which are essential in some metabolic functions of mitochondria, were found to be significantly decreased in patients with CFS. Studies found that the carnitine levels directly affected functional capacity of patients.
• Higher concentrations of xenobiotics, lactate, and pyruvate were found, coupled with reduced oxidative metabolism.
• Patients with CFS show a decrease of intracellular pH and a lower rate of ATP synthesis during recovery was measured. These findings suggest impaired recycling of ADP to ATP in the mitochondria.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in various organs offers possible explanations for many of the other symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.

There is mounting evidence that the symptoms are due to dysfunctions on the cellular level.

What Is Chronic Fatigue

The debilitating condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome affects people for long periods of time .

This kind of fatigue is worsened by physical or mental exertion, and bed rest does nothing to alleviate it.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis is another name for this illness .

ME/CFS is a common abbreviation for the condition. Systemic exertional intolerance disease is the most recent term for this condition .

CFS is a mystery, but there are a number of theories about what causes the condition. These range from viral infections to psychological stress.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, according to some researchers, may be brought on by a combination of factors.

Chronic fatigue syndrome cannot be diagnosed with a single test.

Other health problems with similar symptoms may necessitate a number of medical tests.

Symptom improvement is the primary goal of treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome.

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Tender Points Of Fibromyalgia

Widespread tenderness is a common symptom, particularly affecting anatomic regions such as the back of the neck at the connection between the muscle and the skull. There are 18 such specific regions in the body, and they are known as fibromyalgia tender points.

In the past, clinical studies were only carried out on patients who had 11 out of the 18 tender points, but this approach has changed in recent years.

Totally Disputed Tag Removal

I will remove the totally disputed tag. The content is not totally disputed, it is also referenced good. People that think a tag should be on article can discuss here and add another tag, totally disputed is not right tho! Thx, RetroS1monetalk 04:11, 4 November 2008 Reply

Well i made some changes, more references i think their good, more viewpoints. RetroS1monetalk 06:00, 4 November 2008 Reply

Totally disputed still applies to this article. None of the terms listed are alternative names to CFS, they are alternative diagnoses. I.e., not only the name differs, but also the content. Guido den Broeder 09:46, 24 November 2008 Reply

That is your opinion, even Jason says they are just different names. The diagnosis is the same, the names are different. RetroS1monetalk 22:58, 25 November 2008 Reply

Please. Elsewhere, you claim that Jason isnt that important because it suits you there. But yes, that is my non-personal opinion, based on my knowledge of the literature. Yours is different, which is fine. It means that we have a dispute, not that your opinion should by definition prevail. Are you willing to help find a solution that we both can live with, or will you keep reverting all my attempts? Guido den Broeder 01:11, 26 November 2008 Reply

That would be an own synthesis, which we are not supposed to make. We should consider only sources that investigate the matter. Trying to clarify further:

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