CFS is a trash can diagnosis that is applied when the patient is feeling unwell and no other disease can be found. Lots of studies with weird results:
"OBJECTIVE: To review the etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and test hypotheses relating to immune system dysfunction, physical deconditioning, exercise avoidance, and childhood illness experiences, using a large prospective birth cohort. METHODS: A total of 4779 participants from the Medical Research Council's National Survey of Health and Development were prospectively followed for the first 53 years of their life with >20 separate data collections. Information was collected on childhood and parental health, atopic illness, levels of physical activity, fatigue, and participant's weight and height at multiple time points. CFS was identified through self-report during a semistructured interview at age 53 years with additional case notes review. RESULTS: Of 2983 participants assessed at age 53 years, 34 (1.1%, 95% Confidence Interval 0.8-1.5) reported a diagnosis of CFS. Those who reported CFS were no more likely to have suffered from childhood illness or atopy. Increased levels of exercise throughout childhood and early adult life and a lower body mass index were associated with an increased risk of later CFS. Participants who later reported CFS continued to exercise more frequently even after they began to experience early symptoms of fatigue. CONCLUSIONS:
Individuals who exercise frequently are more likely to report a diagnosis of CFS in later life. This may be due to the direct effects of this behavior or associated personality factors. Continuing to be active despite increasing fatigue may be a crucial step in the development of CFS."
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18378866"BACKGROUND: Distant healing, a form of spiritual healing, is widely used for many conditions but little is known about its effectiveness. METHODS: In order to evaluate distant healing in patients with a stable chronic condition, we randomised 409 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) from 14 private practices for environmental medicine in Germany and Austria in a two by two factorial design to immediate versus deferred (waiting for 6 months) distant healing.
Half the patients were blinded and half knew their treatment allocation. Patients were treated for 6 months and allocated to groups of 3 healers from a pool of 462 healers in 21 European countries with different healing traditions. Change in Mental Health Component Summary (MHCS) score (SF-36) was the primary outcome and Physical Health Component Summary score (PHCS) the secondary outcome. RESULTS: This trial population had very low quality of life and symptom scores at entry. There were no differences over 6 months in post-treatment MHCS scores between the treated and untreated groups. There was a non-significant outcome (p = 0.11) for healing with PHCS (1.11; 95% CI -0.255 to 2.473 at 6 months) and a significant effect (p = 0.027) for blinding;
patients who were unblinded became worse during the trial (-1.544; 95% CI -2.913 to -0.176). We found no relevant interaction for blinding among treated patients in MHCS and PHCS. Expectation of treatment and duration of CFS added significantly to the model. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with CFS, distant healing appears to have no statistically significant effect on mental and physical health but the expectation of improvement did improve outcome."
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18277062"CONTEXT: Childhood trauma appears to be a potent risk factor for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Evidence from developmental neuroscience suggests that early experience programs the development of regulatory systems that are implicated in the pathophysiology of CFS, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. However, the contribution of childhood trauma to neuroendocrine dysfunction in CFS remains obscure. OBJECTIVES: To replicate findings on the relationship between childhood trauma and risk for CFS and to evaluate the association between childhood trauma and neuroendocrine dysfunction in CFS. Design, Setting, and PARTICIPANTS: A case-control study of 113 persons with CFS and 124 well control subjects identified from a general population sample of 19 381 adult residents of Georgia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported childhood trauma (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse; emotional and physical neglect), psychopathology (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder), and salivary cortisol response to awakening. RESULTS: Individuals with CFS reported significantly higher levels of childhood trauma and psychopathological symptoms than control subjects. Exposure to childhood trauma was associated with a 6-fold increased risk of CFS. Sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect were most effective in discriminating CFS cases from controls. There was a graded relationship between exposure level and CFS risk. The risk of CFS conveyed by childhood trauma further increased with the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Only individuals with CFS and with childhood trauma exposure, but not individuals with CFS without exposure, exhibited decreased salivary cortisol concentrations after awakening compared with control subjects. CONCLUSIONS:
Our results confirm childhood trauma as an important risk factor of CFS. In addition, neuroendocrine dysfunction, a hallmark feature of CFS, appears to be associated with childhood trauma. This possibly reflects a biological correlate of vulnerability due to early developmental insults. Our findings are critical to inform pathophysiological research and to devise targets for the prevention of CFS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/19124690"OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study aimed to measure the discrepancy between actual and perceived IQ in a sample of adolescents with CFS compared to healthy controls. We hypothesized that adolescents with CFS and their parent would have higher expectations of the adolescent's intellectual ability than healthy adolescents and their parent. METHODS: The sample was 28 CFS patients and 29 healthy controls aged 11-19 years and the parent of each participant. IQ was assessed using the AH4 group test of general intelligence and a self-rating scale which measured perceived IQ. RESULTS:
Parents' perceptions of their children's IQ were significantly higher for individuals with CFS than healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: High expectations may need to be addressed within the context of treatment."
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/19616144
Edited by Blue, 09 October 2009 - 02:01 AM.
