BACKGROUND The role of stress in the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome is unclear. Our objectives in this study were first, to determine the relation between the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome and stressful life events and difficulties. Secondly, we examined the role of a particular type of problem, dilemmas, in the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome. METHOD We used a case-control design wi...

A test of muscle strength and "fatiguability" was administered to 20 normal subjects and 20 patients suffering from post-infection fatigue syndrome. Maximal isometric torque for the elbow flexors was measured before, during and after an endurance sequence of 18 maximal static contractions (10 s duration, 10 s rest interval). The maximal isometric strength was not significantly different between...

OBJECTIVES To examine cognitive function in chronic fatigue syndrome. METHODS Twenty patients with chronic fatigue syndrome recruited from primary care and 20 matched normal controls were given CANTAB computerised tests of visuospatial memory, attention, and executive function, and verbal tests of letter and category fluency and word association learning. RESULTS Patients with chronic fatig...

The syndrome of chronic fatigue, feverishness, diffuse pains, and other constitutional complaints, often precipitated by an acute infectious illness and aggravated by physical and emotional stressors, has a lengthy history in the medical literature. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently formulated a case definition, renaming the illness "chronic fatigue syndrome." Nevertheless, there r...

A minimal intervention, based on cognitive-behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome and consisting of self-instructions combined with email contact, was tested in a randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN27293439). A total of 171 patients participated in the trial: 85 were allocated to the intervention condition and 86 to the waiting-list condition. All patients met the Centers for Disease ...

The chronic Epstein-Barr virus syndrome is a poorly defined symptom complex characterized primarily by chronic or recurrent debilitating fatigue and various combinations of other symptoms, including sore throat, lymph node pain and tenderness, headache, myalgia, and arthralgias. Although the syndrome has received recent attention, and has been diagnosed in many patients, the chronic Epstein-Bar...

This paper reviews the current literature examining the pervasive symptom of fatigue experienced in three of the most common degenerative neurological conditions: multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and post-polio syndrome (PPS). The existing literature can be considered under four headings definition and prevalence, type, cause, impact of fatigue. Fatigue is a common symptom in d...

BACKGROUND Mortality associated with chronic fatigue syndrome is uncertain. We investigated mortality in individuals diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in secondary and tertiary care using data from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) register. METHODS We calculated standardised mortality ratio...

Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterised by intense fatigue, with duration of over six months and associated to other related symptoms. The latter include asthenia and easily induced tiredness that is not recovered after a night's sleep. The fatigue becomes so severe that it forces a 50% reduction in daily activities. Given its unknown aetiology, different hypotheses have been considered to ex...