Health officials in the United States (U.S.) published the first findings on Friday on how many people in the U.S. suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. It is estimated that there are about 3.3 million of them.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that this number is larger than previous studies have suggested, and is likely boosted by some of the patients with long COVID-19. The condition clearly “is not a rare illness,” said the CDC’s Dr. Elizabeth Unger, one of the report’s co-authors.
Chronic fatigue is characterized by at least six months of severe exhaustion not helped by bed rest. Patients also reported pain, confusion, and memory loss that worsened especially after exercise or work. There is no cure, and no blood test or scan to enable a quick diagnosis.
Doctors still do not know what causes it, although research suggests it is a body’s prolonged overreaction to an infection or other jolt to the immune system.
The condition rose to prominence nearly 40 years ago, when it was diagnosed in Nevada and New York, but some dismissed it as psychosomatic and called it the “yuppie flu.” Some physicians still hold that opinion, experts and patients say.
The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on the experiences of 57.000 people in the U.S. in 2021 and 2022. Among other things, it was found that women suffer from the syndrome more than men, as well as white people – compared to some other ethnic groups. These findings are consistent with earlier smaller studies.
The new findings, however, contradict earlier beliefs that chronic fatigue syndrome is a “rich white woman’s disease.” The difference between the number of whites and blacks who have this syndrome is decreasing, and the study showed that more poor people than rich people are affected.
Experts believe that only a small part of those suffering from this syndrome is included in the statistics, Biznis Info writes.
E.Dz.
