Chronic fatigue syndrome

{{disease|G93.3|Postviral fatigue syndrome|''not in classification''}}

'''Chronic fatigue syndrome''' (CFS) is not a [[disease]] [[diagnosis]], but a working case definition introduced to identify patients that may suffer from the underlying target disease.<ref name="Holmes88">Holmes G, Kaplan J, Gantz N, Komaroff A, Schonberger L, Straus S, Jones J, Dubois R, Cunningham-Rundles C, Pahwa S ([[1988]]), "Chronic fatigue syndrome: a working case definition", Annals of Internal Medicine, 108 (3), 387-389</ref> While originally intended for scientific research only, it has become widely used in clinical practice as well.
The diagnosis was introduced after an [[outbreak]] around [[Lake Tahoe]], [[Nevada]] in the [[United States of America]] of what was initially thought to be a form of chronic [[mononucleosis]]. When this could not be confirmed, it got generally assumed that CFS primarily captures sufferers of [[myalgic encephalomyelitis]], a [[post-viral fatigue syndrome|post-viral]] [[neurology|neurological]] disease that had generated similar outbreaks all over the western world.<ref name="Carruthers2003">Carruthers BM, Jain AK, DeMeirleir KL, Peterson DL, Klimas NG, Lerner AM, Bested AC, Flor-Henry P, Joshi P, Powles ACP, Sherkey JA, Van de Sande MI ([[2003]]), "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome : Clinical Working case Definition, Diagnostic and Treatment Protocols", Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Vol. 11 (1)</ref> Since the beginning of the [[21st century]], there is a growing interest in identifying subgroups within the CFS patient population.<ref>Tan EM, Sugiura K, Gupta S ([[2002]]), "The Case Definition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", J Clin Immunol, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 8-12</ref>

==CFS or ME==
CFS and ME are not [[synonym]]s, nor was CFS ever intended to replace the disease diagnosis ME.<ref name="Broeder2008">Den Broeder G (2008), "Testen op ME/CVS", Lees ME 5/6, ME/CVS Vereniging, Jul:37-41 + Dec:28-31 (''Testing for ME/CFS'')</ref><ref name="Mackie2009">Mackie Ph (2009), "Health Care Needs Assessment of Services for people living with ME-CFS" (draft for consultation), Scottish Public Health Network (ScotPHN), May, [http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/3402.aspx 20090517]</ref> Patients diagnosed with (only) CFS could be suffering from other illnesses, including [[post-polio syndrome]], other [[post-viral fatigue syndrome]]s or forms of [[fibromyalgia]].<ref name="Mackie2009"/> Patients with non-chronic ME do not qualify for a diagnosis of CFS. However, testing patients for CFS criteria could be considered the first step towards a diagnosis of ME (or other diseases).<ref name="Broeder2008"/>


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[[Category:Myalgic encephalomyelitis]]
[[nl:Chronisch vermoeidheidssyndroom]]