Beyond Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Redefining an Illness.

摘要

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are serious, debilitating conditions that impose a burden of illness on millions of people in the United States and around the world. Somewhere between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans are estimated to have these disorders. The cause of ME/CFS remains unknown, although in many cases, symptoms may have been triggered by an infection or other prodromal event, such as “immunization, anesthetics, physical trauma, exposure to environmental pollutants, chemicals and heavy metals, and rarely blood transfusions”.