Editorial: Fatigue syndrome all too real

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006 | 7:04 a.m.

An often-maligned illness that first gained attention when residents of a Nevada town complained of its symptoms in 1985 is finally getting serious attention from the federal government.

A writer for the Sacramento Bee newspaper listed some of the pejorative terms that have been used to cast doubt on, make a mockery of or reprove this illness: yuppie flu. A hypochondriac's excuse. A drain on the Social Security disability system.

Yet the illness, chronic fatigue syndrome, claims at least 1 million sufferers in the United States alone, and medical researchers are now coming to their defense.

"This isn't hooey," Dr. William Reeves told the Sacramento Bee. He heads the chronic viral diseases branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The article traced the known origins of the disease to Incline Village at Lake Tahoe. In 1985 a number of residents there - a cluster, in medical jargon - complained of headaches, sore throats and prolonged illness, the Bee reported.

Another cluster at about the same time struck Raleigh, N.C. After other clusters and individual complaints, the CDC understood enough to know that the illness was different from mononucleosis and in 1988 gave it the name it carries today.

For the people who suffer from it, the illness is aggravated by the fact that there are no outward signs of it, such as a fever, rash or swelling. Also, sufferers' own doctors run tests but can never find any reason for the fatigue. That's what has led many sufferers to encounter cynicism at work, in social circles and even among family members.

Researchers today, however, have compared notes and found similar changes in the brain structure, immune system, central nervous system and genetic makeup of people complaining of the illness. The Bee reported that the federal government has begun an awareness campaign about chronic fatigue syndrome and that millions of dollars are being spent on new research to find a cure.

We hope the awareness campaign reaches the cynics who remark that, "It's all in their heads." In fact, it is all too real, especially for those who suffer from it.