Source: Handbook of Research Methods in Health Psychology
Chapter 17: Chronic Illness, pp 228-241
Date: November 29, 2020 and january 2021
URL:
https://books.google.com/books?id=fPQCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA228
Ref:
https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-...-Psychology/Ragin-Keenan/p/book/9780429488320
The case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
--------------------------------------------------------------
Leonard A. Jason, Joseph Cotler, Shaun Bhatia, Madison Sunnquist
Overview
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) affect
approximately 1 million Americans (Jason, Richman, Rademaker, Jordan,
Plioplys, Taylor, et al., 199%); while some individuals believe that CFS
and ME refer to the same illness, others characterize ME as a more
severe, neurological disorder that is discrete from CES (Twisk, 2013).
This controversy will be reviewed in detail. The widespread,
debilitating symptoms of the illnesses include but are not limited to
feeling sick after activity (known as post-exertional malaise), memory
and concentration problems, and unrefreshing sleep (IOM, 2015).
Some researchers suggest that ME and CFS were first conceptualized under
the diagnostic label 'newrasthenia,' defined as a neurological disease
characterized by muscle weakness or fatigue. Notably, neurasthenia was
one of the most frequently diagnosed illnesses in the late nineteenth
century. However, use of this term had substantially decreased by the
mid-twentieth century (Wessely, 1994)
Throughout the twentieth century, several outbreaks of idiopathic,
fatigue-related illneses occurred, including 'atypical poliomyelitis' at
Los Angeles County Hospital in 1934 (Meals, Hauser, & Bowe 1938),
'encephalomyelits' at the Royal Free Hospital in London in 1955
(Crowley, Nelon, & Stovi 1957), and 'chronic mononucleosis-like
syndrome' in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 1984 (Barnes, 1986). After the Lake
Tahoe outbreak, national attention began to focus on this illness
(Wessely, 1994), and in 1988, it was named donc fatigue syndrome by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Holmes, Kaplan, Gantz,
Komaroff, Schonberger, Straus, ct al, 1988). For over two decades, the
ease definition that the CDC developed (Fukuda, Straus, Hickic, Sharpe,
Dobbins, & Komaroff, 1994) has bbeen prominently used in research and
clinical practice; however, the Institute of Medicine (10M) recently
developed an updated clinical case definition (IOM, 2015).
The annual direct and indirect costs of ME and CFS in the United States
are estimated to be between $19 and $24 billion (Jason, Benton, Johnson,
& Valentine, 2008). Individuals with ME and CES have an increased risk
of cardiovascular-related mortality and a lower mean age of death by
suicide and cancer in comparison to the general US population
(McManimen, Devendorf, Brow Moore, Moore, & son, 2016). In addition,
arthritis, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and multiple chemical
sensitivities are commonly comorbid (Jason, Porter, Hunnell, Brown,
Rademaker, & Richman, 2011). Although no virus has been identified as
the cause of ME and CFS, the immune system may be overactive (Fischer,
William, Strauss, Unger, Jason, Marshall, etl, 2014), and there is and
fibromyalgia using regression tree analysis and artificial neural
network analysis, composed of computer-based models used to evaluate
complex correlations. The patients were randomly divided into two
groups. One group served to derive classification criteria sets by
sophisticated procedures, including artificial neural networks in
parallel. These criteria were then validated with the second group.
Symptoms that best differentiated patients with ME and CES from the
other patients were acute onset of fatigue and sore throat.
Additionally, a recent study highlighted that the duration of
post-exertional malaise symptoms can distinguish ME and CFS from other
chronic illnesses (Cotler, Holtzman, Dudun, & Jason, 2018). The lesson
that is apparent from this section is that it is essential for a
consensus on a case definition among investigators for establishing a
solid empiric foundation in any illness or disease.
