Chronic fatigue syndrome has received plenty of characterizations over time, being called either a chronic disorder or a psychiatric disease. Now, researchers have finally discovered signs in our bodies which confirm the existence of this condition. Their findings might prove that chronic fatigue syndrome is actually an inflammatory disease.
- Scientists couldn’t find a cause for chronic fatigue syndrome, making many doctors think the symptoms had a psychological cause.
- A new study identified a link between high levels of cytokine proteins in blood and the presence of these symptoms.
- They might prove that inflammation is one trigger for the condition.
The disorder, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis, manifests as acute fatigue which persists over an extended period of time. This fatigue is not related to any physical factors which could have caused it, and the patients give no response to treatments or medication.
Therefore, the cause of this affliction is unknown. This caused a lot of unpleasant situations for the sufferers, as many doctors do not regard chronic fatigue syndrome as a real disease, and tell patients they are only imagining the symptoms. In other cases, people might receive false diagnoses and unnecessary treatment, which sometimes makes their condition worse.
Now, a team of researchers from Stanford University managed to discover 17 proteins in the body which confirm the existence of chronic fatigue syndrome. A high concentration of these proteins, called cytokines, in the blood are associated with the disease.
Researchers developed a study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. There, they analyzed the connection between high levels of cytokines in the bloodstream and a presence of severe symptoms for chronic fatigue syndrome. Therefore, inflammation might be the trigger of the disease.
Despite this discovery, it might take a while until chronic fatigue illness is recognized as a real disease. Researchers hope this will happen as soon as possible, to end the severe struggle patients have to lead every day when they suffer from this terrible condition.
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