Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex medical condition, characterized by long-term fatigue and other symptoms. These symptoms are to such a degree that they limit a person's ability to carry out ordinary daily activities. CFS may also be referred to as systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), or several other terms.Quality of life of persons with CFS can be extremely compromised.

Biological, genetic, infectious, and psychological mechanisms have been proposed, but the cause is not understood. The fatigue of CFS is not due to ongoing exertion, is not much relieved by rest, and is not due to any other medical condition. Diagnosis is based on a patient's signs and symptoms.

There is agreement that CFS has a negative effect on health, happiness and productivity but there is also controversy over many aspects of the disorder. Physicians, researchers and patient advocates promote different names and diagnostic criteria, while evidence for proposed causes and treatments is often contradictory or of low quality.

Chronic fatigue

Chronic fatigue may refer to:

Chronic

Chronic may refer to:

See also

Fatigue

Fatigue may refer to:

Syndrome

A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms that are correlated with each other and, often, with a specific disease. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "retarded". In some instances a syndrome is so closely correlated with a pathogenesis or etiology that the words syndrome, disease, and disorder end up being used interchangeably for them. This is especially true of genetically caused syndromes. For example, Down syndrome, Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome, and Andersen syndrome are disorders with known pathogeneses, so each is more than just a set of signs and symptoms, despite the syndrome nomenclature. In other instances, a syndrome is not specific to only one disease. For example, toxic shock syndrome can be caused by various toxins; premotor syndrome can be caused by various brain lesions; and premenstrual syndrome is not a disease but simply a set of symptoms.

If an underlying genetic cause is suspected but not known, a condition may be referred to as an "association". By definition, an association shows that the collection of signs and symptoms occurs in combination more frequently than would be likely by chance alone.