Chronic fatigue syndrome – colloquially called chronic fatigue syndrome – (synonyms: Akureyri disease; Akureyri syndrome; benign myalgic encephalomyelitis; benign myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME); CFS [chronic fatigue syndrome]; chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS); chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS); chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic fatigue syndrome; epidemic neuromyasthenia; Iceland disease; low natural killer cell syndrome (LNKS); myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME); myalgic encephalopathy (ME); neuromyasthenia; postinfectious neuromyasthenia; postviral fatigue syndrome; postviral fatigue syndrome; systemic exertion intolerance disorder; postinfectious neuromyasthenia; postinfection neuromyasthenia; postinfectious fatigue syndrome; postinfection neuromyasthenia; postinfection neuromyasthenia systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID); ICD-10-GM G93.3: Chronic fatigue syndrome) usually occurs suddenly and is characterized by months to years of both physical and mental fatigue.
The American Institute of Medicine (IOM) has replaced the term “chronic fatigue syndrome” (CFS) with “systemic exertion intolerance disease” (SEID) and redefined it. The leading symptoms are considered to be:
- Substantial limitation in daily life,
- Sickliness after efforts and
- Non-restorative sleep.
The above symptoms should be present for at least six months.
Sex ratio: men to women is 1: 2-3.
Frequency peak: the disease occurs mainly between the 30th and 45th year of life. In rare cases, it also occurs once in childhood and adolescence or later in older age.
The prevalence (disease frequency) is 0.1-0.3% (in Germany). It is estimated that about 300,000 people in Germany, about 30,000 in Switzerland and about 1,000,000 in the USA are affected. Worldwide, approximately 17 million suffer from this disease.
Course and prognosis: There is no causal therapy. But many patients experience improvement with recurrences (relapses) and recovery periods after some time, others recover completely.
If fatigue is present in the presence of tumor disease, see “Fatigue in cancer” below.
