The Search For The Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
March 13, 2010 by Brenlee Place
Filed under Fibromyalgia
For years, researchers struggled to find clear-cut chronic fatigue syndrome causes. Perhaps it was just a convergence of factors, they surmised. It could be part genetics, brain abnormality, hyper-reactive immune system, a virus, infection and psychiatric illness. Scientists had a feeling this tiredness syndrome came about as a result of a moderate-to-serious physical illness or a chronic viral infection that left residual effects within the body. Perhaps depression helped perpetuate some of the symptoms for an extended period of time.
Are the causes of chronic fatigue syndrome physical or mental? This uncertainty troubles every CFS patient who feels misunderstood by their peers. Part of the problem is the fact that there are no clinical tests to identify this condition. Identification of the syndrome usually consists of ruling out any other possible cause, which causes some to speculate that the ailment isn’t real. One thing that is recognized is that CFS patients feel intense fatigue and worsening of other symptoms subsequent to even mild physical activity. Through research, it is hoped that researchers can answer some essential questions concerning CFS. Only recently, new links have been discovered to shed some light on this mysterious problem.
Previously, the causes of CFS were believed to have a genetic connection. Researchers noted that there were genes involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system that were altered. These genes control a person’s response to trauma, injury and other stressful situations, therefore the abnormalities exposed could have plausibly impacted cellular energy transfer, immune system function and cell communication. People with CFS have all sorts of gene dissimilarities, yet there hasn’t been just one gene established as responsible for the health symptoms associated with CFS.
Another one of the proposed chronic fatigue syndrome causes has to do with abnormalities of the central nervous system and hormones. Abnormal chemical levels in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis may be one cause of chronic fatigue medical symptoms, scientists have posited. For instance, some patients with CFS have abnormally high levels of seratonin (a chemical messenger in the brain) and abnormally low levels of dopamine (a neurotransmitter associated with sleep and feelings of reward). In other cases, CFS patients have imbalances between norepinephrine and dopamine levels or lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Fatigue can also be caused by a disturbed sleep-wake cycle, researchers add.
In October 2009, a team of researchers from the University of Nevada at Reno and the National Cancer Institute reported a definitive link between chronic fatigue syndrome and a virus called XMRV, which appeared in the vast majority of CFS patients they studied. The XMRV chronic fatigue virus is one of just three known retroviruses; the other two being HIV and HTLV. All three viruses are transmitted through bodily fluids. However, scientists are, at this point, cautious to point to a virus as one of the predominant chronic fatigue syndrome causes. “There’s been a tremendous interest in chronic fatigue syndrome. I’ve been getting almost nonstop calls from doctors and patients,” explains one of the head researchers, Robert Silverman from the Lerner Research Institute. “They’re obviously looking for hope in this study, although the virus is not proven to cause CFS. That’s still unknown. But until it’s ruled out, it’s going to obviously be a subject of great interest.”
You have to find the chronic fatigue syndrome treatments that work best for your life if you are suffering from this debilitating condition. Visit Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Help to find out more about this syndrome and how you can find relief.
