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| Germany in 1869, and Captain Cook's Resolution crew came down with a strange lingering flu-like illness after visiting New Zealand. |
| What exactly is chronic fatigue syndrome? A good question, but unfortunately one not easily answered. In fact, much of the disorder is shrouded in mystery. The Centers for Disease Control defines it as ''unexplained and recurring fatigueone that is out of the ordinary for that individual. Unlike normal tiredness, rest does not relieve it.'' After researchers looked over 250 scientific papers on CFS in 1996, they observed that the "profound fatigue is made worse by minimal physical or mental exertion" and the symptoms typically last "at least six months." |
| However, this fatigue is not simply feeling worn out by the end of the day. If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, you can literally be so exhausted that you barely have the energy to move. The telephone rings, yet even lifting a hand to answer it may require far too much energy. A CFS sufferer who does make it out of bed in the morning may get only as far as the couch before she or he needs to rest again. I know several people who spend most of their days in bed. A 1991 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reported that this fatigue can be even more debilitating than multiple sclerosis, lupus or Lyme disease. |
| What is particularly devastating to the majority of CFS sufferers is that they were once exceptionally energetic. It is estimated that 96 percent of people with CFS actively exercised before they got sickmore than double the number in the general population. In fact, the syndrome was initially coined the "yuppie disease," because so many of the people it hits are energetic overachievers in the prime of their lives. As a result their lives drastically change. Many |
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