Diagnostic Markers for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Lourdes Salvador's Column ...Co-founder of MCS America discusses the latest Multiple Chemical Sensitivity issues.

Diagnostic Markers for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

 

by Lourdes Salvador

 

 

Researchers at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuroimmune Diseases in Reno, Nevada say they are in the process of identifying and isolating a new virus which may be the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

 

Within a year the institute also expects to develop test which will clinically confirm a diagnosis of CFS through serum biomarker patterns of cytokine and chemokines. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines often is associated with neuroinflammation and neurotoxic damage to the central nervous system.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) “is a serious illness and poses a dilemma for patients, their families, and health care providers.

 

The CDC says “a variety of studies by CDC and others have shown that between 1 and 4 million Americans suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). They are seriously impaired, at least a quarter are unemployed or on disability because of CFS.”

 

People who suffer from CFS have unrelenting fatigue severe enough to limit even the most basic daily living tasks of bathing, cleaning, and dressing. These simple tasks can leave sufferers exhausted.

 

The CDC cites the following symptoms for CFS:

• Cognitive dysfunction, including impaired memory or concentration
• Postexertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours
• Unrefreshing sleep
• Joint pain (without redness or swelling)
• Persistent muscle pain
• Headaches of a new type or severity
• Tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes
• Sore throat

 

Annette Whittemore, president, founded the Whittemore Peterson Institute when she could not find the medical knowledge or tools through physicians to treat the underlying cause of her daughter’s CFS.

 

The concept behind the Whittemore Peterson Institute is to be the worlds first and only treatment center for the millions people in the United States suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, and other similar illnesses of acquired dysregulation of both the immune and the nervous systems.

 

The institute also maintains a blood and tissue repository and shares samples around the world in the hopes that all researchers will come up with consistent results.

 

 

 

For more articles on this topic, see: MCSA News.

 

Copyrighted 2008 Lourdes Salvador & MCS America

 

 

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