CFS and CFID - same as Gulf War syndrome?

[Margaret Diann]

In taking a closer look at the definitions of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Immune Defficiency it occurs to me that these are the same definitions as one might give for 'Gulf War Syndrome' symptoms ... which I believe have been a plague on the USA for many, many years.

In short, if the doc doesn't know the cause of the 'persisting, debilitating' fatigue, & you have some other symptoms, too, like Central Nervous system memory loss, and joint pain, etc ... then the doc can diagnose CFS. Interesting ... more background

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was first defined in 1988 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)1 as an illness of at least six months duration which begins suddenly with flu-like symptoms, causes a minimum of 50% reduction in activity, and cannot be explained by alternate medical or psychiatric diagnoses.

Since that time, research has tried to solve the mysteries surrounding CFS ? such as its causes and prevalence. There is a long way to go ? there is still no laboratory marker or universal treatment for CFS, but progress is being made.

Diagnosis: In 1994, the CDC revised its CFS case definition.2 Because no simple laboratory test can identify CFS, a physician must exclude other possible causes of the symptoms before diagnosing a patient with CFS.

To meet the definition for CFS, a person must have clinically evaluated, unexplained persistent or relapsing chronic fatigue that is of new or definite onset (i.e., not lifelong), is not the result of ongoing exertion, is not substantially alleviated by rest and results in substantial reduction in previous levels of occupational, educational, social or personal activities. In addition, the person must have at least four of the following symptoms: substantial impairment in short-term memory or concentration; sore throat; tender lymph nodes; muscle pain; multi-joint pain without swelling or redness; headaches of a new type, pattern, or severity; unrefreshing sleep; and post-exertional malaise lasting more than 24 hours. Source

Interesting. They can't figure out the cause of Gulf War Syndrome (Illness), either, can they?

More comments - Gulf War Vet Discussion Forum

An overlooked cause of fatigue:

The current definition seems to fit the symptoms Gulf War vets have ...
and a chemical they were exposed to which causes all of their symptoms, best I can tell is 2-butoxyethanol also known as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether

Because the bone marrow compensates for the loss of mature red blood cells ... the CBCs don't seem out of line and most physicians don't check further. The compensating hemolytic anemia can more likely be found out by a retic ratio.

Do doctors check this when ruling out other causes of fatigue?

Low functioning red blood cells that are smaller in size, and irregular shape, may help to show that what we are dealing with is often chemical exposure to pesticides.

This particular solvent/pesticide/poison is in many, many products, and our people are not adequately warned of the harm they cause.


Sincerely,
Margaret Hursh
PO Box 233
Valdez, AK 99686
valdez@alaska.com
1-888-853-5333

Gulf War Syndrome may still be going on in the military today, too

Thoughts