Endocrine Abstracts

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) comprises a number of symptoms which include fatigue, headaches, poor concentration, muscle and joint pains and sleep disturbance. The first working case definition was formulated by the Centres for Disease Control in 1988, and two modifications have been published - a British definition in 1991 and a second American definition in 1994. The most important factor in all definitions is severe fatigue. The British definition requires that both menta...

Recent research has suggested mild hypocortisolism in at least some subjects with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). For example, our study of 120 well-characterised CFS patients showed a significant reduction in 24-h urinary free cortisol (UFC). Studies of the HPA axis suggest a generally impaired responsivity to challenge, although there is no one specific pattern. Examples include impaired responses to CRH challenge. A randomised, placebo controlled trial of low dose (5-10 mg/...

Case DefinitionPsychiatrists, probably because of their experience with poorly understood and symptom-defined conditions have had a major role in generating workable definitions for clinically significant idiopathic fatigue. This is currently termed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Although the working definitions of chronic fatigue syndrome have been valuable in achieving comparability of resarch studies, their validity must not be over stated. There is overlap between CFS...