Lenny Jason - LifeLong Fatigue Patients Should Qualify for ME/CFS

[Cort]

"lifelong fatigue should no longer be used as an exclusionary criterion for CFS or ME/CFS."
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The current definitions require that fatigue onset should be of "new" origin - but what about people who are sick from childhood? Jason found that that many people with ME/CFS had lifelong but some do and they don't appear any different symptomatically from those who's ME/CFS started later..

J Prev Interv Community. 2015;43(1):42-53. doi: 10.1080/10852352.2014.973238. Complications in operationalizing lifelong fatigue as an exclusionary criterion. Sunnquist M1, Jason LA, Brown A, Evans M, Berman A. Author information

Abstract

The case definitions for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and chronic fatigue syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) stipulate that the experience of lifelong fatigue is an exclusionary criterion (Carruthers et al., 2003 ; Fukuda et al., 1994 ). This article examines the lifelongfatigue construct and identifies potential validity and reliability issues in using lifelong fatigue as an exclusionary condition.

Using the most rigorous standards, few individuals were classified as having lifelong fatigue.

In addition, those with and without lifelong fatigue had few significant differences in symptoms and functional areas. This article concludes with a recommendation that lifelong fatigue should no longer be used as an exclusionary criterion for CFS or ME/CFS.