Abstract:
The chronic fatigue syndrome is an illness of unknown etiology characterized by severe fatigue, myalgias, lymphadenopathy, arthralgias, chills, fevers, and postexertional malaise. Recognizing chronic fatigue syndrome is primarily a method of exclusion with no definitive diagnostic test or physical findings. As research continues to delve into the many possible etiologic agents for chronic fatigue syndrome-infectious, immunologic, neurologic, or psychiatric alone or in combination- the answer remains elusive. What is known is that chronic fatigue syndrome is a heterogeneous disorder very possibly involving an interaction of biological systems. Therefore, chronic fatigue syndrome may describe a large subset of patients, each exhibiting unique symptoms and serologic profiles dependent on the nature of the onset of illness and the genetic profile of individual patients.
Source: Craig TJ, Kakumanu S, Yeager M. Chronic fatigue syndrome. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 1999 Oct 1;99(10_suppl):S1-S5. doi: 10.7556/jaoa.1999.99.10.S1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26983059