4 ms·

damn, C.F.S is pretty messed up. The weirdest thing is how it seems to happen so suddenly.

fortran77 7y ago
Also, with any "syndrome" you get a range of people with the symptoms, some with different underlying causes (and some, no doubt, with psychological ones.)
- vimy 7y ago
  It's not a syndrome. The scientific name is myalgic encephalomyelitis. There are very specific symptoms you need to have for it to be cfs. Did you even read the article? It clearly states it's not psychological. "For decades, many thought that it was psychosomatic. (My symptoms were so odd that, over the preceding year, I, too, had wondered if I was going crazy.) This sense lingers in popular culture. In the pilot episode of “House,” from 2004, a patient comes to the clinic complaining of C.F.S., and Dr. House successfully treats him with mints from the vending machine. In a standup set in 2007, Ricky Gervais joked about people who say they have C.F.S. because they “don’t feel like going to work.” Today, though, most doctors who study C.F.S. think that its symptoms are caused by a dysfunction of the immune system, which is typically triggered by an infection, such as the Epstein-Barr virus (which causes mono) or viral encephalitis. Still, they don’t understand why, even as most people bounce back from these ailments, a small percentage of them never recover." ... "The dominant theory holds that C.F.S. may not have a single etiology but may instead be a dysfunctional state of the immune system triggered by one of several ailments. Another asserts that C.F.S. is actually an umbrella term for several immune conditions with similar presentations. Ongoing research at Stanford and Columbia focusses on pinpointing the causes of the illness and on developing laboratory tests to diagnose it. But progress remains slow because, though the N.I.H. has now determined that the disease is biological, funding has yet to catch up."
  - fortran77 7y ago
    Of course I read the article. > Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that can't be explained by any underlying medical condition. https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html and also from the cdc > Symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) may appear similar to many other illnesses and there is no test to confirm ME/CFS. This makes ME/CFS difficult to diagnose. The illness can be unpredictable. Symptoms may come and go, or there may be changes in how bad they are over time.
    - vimy 7y ago
      Ban me? You would get mad and defensive too if you have been called a nutjob for the last 10 years while you know something is horribly wrong. CFS =/= feeling tired. "The most prominent symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome is an unexplained feeling of fatigue, which is not relieved by rest. This fatigue is severe enough to decrease a person's activity level at home, work or school by 50% or more. In addition, the diagnosis requires that patients should have at least four of the following symptoms that also are present for at least six months: - Impaired concentration or short-term memory, severe enough to affect routine activities at home, work, school or social functions - Sore throat - Enlarged lymph nodes (swollen glands) in the neck or underarm area - Muscle pain - Pain in several joints, with no redness or swelling - Headaches that are different in some way: a new type of headache pain, a new pattern of headaches or headaches that are more severe than before - Sleep that doesn't refresh, or not feeling rested on waking - An extreme reaction to exertion: feeling sick after exercise or strenuous activity, often not starting until the next day People with chronic fatigue syndrome often have other symptoms that are not part of the official definition of the illness, such as nausea and difficulty tolerating alcoholic beverages or medicines that act on the brain. Many people also have allergies, such as hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or recurring sinus problems. About half of people with chronic fatigue syndrome develop depression in the months and years after their illness starts. However, available evidence indicates that chronic fatigue syndrome is not a psychiatric illness. Rather, it appears to be a physical illness that leads to depression in some people." https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-a-to-z https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/chronic-fatigue-syndro... Edit: I want to apologize to fortran77. My temper got the better of me.
  - jMyles 7y ago
    > It's not a syndrome. So we're clear - you're saying that the phenomenon referenced in this article, "chronic fatigue syndrome", is not a syndrome? I'm not sure that argument is even cognizable. A syndrome is just a set of correlated symptoms or effects. How can we even discuss this if we can't agree with this designation? > There are very specific symptoms you need to have for it to be cfs. Wait... so now you do recognize this syndrome? > Did you even read the article? Asking this question, particularly in the demeaning tone which you have adopted, is against the guidelines, which expressly discourage the precise wording you have chosen: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - Eric_WVGG 7y ago
      "chronic fatigue syndrome" is what it was called before it was better understood. It is unfortunate and a bit weird that the author referred to the condition with that phrase; doctors and patients are trying to deprecate the term, as it leads to the whole thing not being taken seriously. The preferred term is "myalgic encephalitis." My girlfriend has it. Roughly put, it's an ongoing brain chronic brain inflammation that leaves her incapacitated for roughly 17 hours a day. She's not "sleepy" or "lazy," she has a fever in her brain and it can't be cured and it's a horrid situation.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

Also, with any "syndrome" you get a range of people with the symptoms, some with different underlying causes (and some, no doubt, with psychological ones.)

vimy 7y ago
It's not a syndrome. The scientific name is myalgic encephalomyelitis. There are very specific symptoms you need to have for it to be cfs. Did you even read the article? It clearly states it's not psychological. "For decades, many thought that it was psychosomatic. (My symptoms were so odd that, over the preceding year, I, too, had wondered if I was going crazy.) This sense lingers in popular culture. In the pilot episode of “House,” from 2004, a patient comes to the clinic complaining of C.F.S., and Dr. House successfully treats him with mints from the vending machine. In a standup set in 2007, Ricky Gervais joked about people who say they have C.F.S. because they “don’t feel like going to work.” Today, though, most doctors who study C.F.S. think that its symptoms are caused by a dysfunction of the immune system, which is typically triggered by an infection, such as the Epstein-Barr virus (which causes mono) or viral encephalitis. Still, they don’t understand why, even as most people bounce back from these ailments, a small percentage of them never recover." ... "The dominant theory holds that C.F.S. may not have a single etiology but may instead be a dysfunctional state of the immune system triggered by one of several ailments. Another asserts that C.F.S. is actually an umbrella term for several immune conditions with similar presentations. Ongoing research at Stanford and Columbia focusses on pinpointing the causes of the illness and on developing laboratory tests to diagnose it. But progress remains slow because, though the N.I.H. has now determined that the disease is biological, funding has yet to catch up."
- fortran77 7y ago
  Of course I read the article. > Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complicated disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that can't be explained by any underlying medical condition. https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html and also from the cdc > Symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) may appear similar to many other illnesses and there is no test to confirm ME/CFS. This makes ME/CFS difficult to diagnose. The illness can be unpredictable. Symptoms may come and go, or there may be changes in how bad they are over time.
  - vimy 7y ago
    Ban me? You would get mad and defensive too if you have been called a nutjob for the last 10 years while you know something is horribly wrong. CFS =/= feeling tired. "The most prominent symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome is an unexplained feeling of fatigue, which is not relieved by rest. This fatigue is severe enough to decrease a person's activity level at home, work or school by 50% or more. In addition, the diagnosis requires that patients should have at least four of the following symptoms that also are present for at least six months: - Impaired concentration or short-term memory, severe enough to affect routine activities at home, work, school or social functions - Sore throat - Enlarged lymph nodes (swollen glands) in the neck or underarm area - Muscle pain - Pain in several joints, with no redness or swelling - Headaches that are different in some way: a new type of headache pain, a new pattern of headaches or headaches that are more severe than before - Sleep that doesn't refresh, or not feeling rested on waking - An extreme reaction to exertion: feeling sick after exercise or strenuous activity, often not starting until the next day People with chronic fatigue syndrome often have other symptoms that are not part of the official definition of the illness, such as nausea and difficulty tolerating alcoholic beverages or medicines that act on the brain. Many people also have allergies, such as hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or recurring sinus problems. About half of people with chronic fatigue syndrome develop depression in the months and years after their illness starts. However, available evidence indicates that chronic fatigue syndrome is not a psychiatric illness. Rather, it appears to be a physical illness that leads to depression in some people." https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-a-to-z https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/chronic-fatigue-syndro... Edit: I want to apologize to fortran77. My temper got the better of me.
- jMyles 7y ago
  > It's not a syndrome. So we're clear - you're saying that the phenomenon referenced in this article, "chronic fatigue syndrome", is not a syndrome? I'm not sure that argument is even cognizable. A syndrome is just a set of correlated symptoms or effects. How can we even discuss this if we can't agree with this designation? > There are very specific symptoms you need to have for it to be cfs. Wait... so now you do recognize this syndrome? > Did you even read the article? Asking this question, particularly in the demeaning tone which you have adopted, is against the guidelines, which expressly discourage the precise wording you have chosen: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - Eric_WVGG 7y ago
    "chronic fatigue syndrome" is what it was called before it was better understood. It is unfortunate and a bit weird that the author referred to the condition with that phrase; doctors and patients are trying to deprecate the term, as it leads to the whole thing not being taken seriously. The preferred term is "myalgic encephalitis." My girlfriend has it. Roughly put, it's an ongoing brain chronic brain inflammation that leaves her incapacitated for roughly 17 hours a day. She's not "sleepy" or "lazy," she has a fever in her brain and it can't be cured and it's a horrid situation.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]