Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CSF) Overview

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disorder characterized by extreme fatigue or tiredness that doesn’t go away with rest and can’t be explained by an underlying medical condition.

In fact, CSF is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) OR systemic exertional intolerance disease (SEID). It is a serious, chronic illness that can cause pain and extreme fatigue.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that up to 3.3 million people in the United States have ME/CFS, most of whom do not have a diagnosis.

In the past, some people did not believe that ME/CFS was a real illness. However, experts have started to take it more seriously in recent years, and research is underway to find out why it happens and how to treat it.

Lifestyle strategies and medical treatment may help people manage some of the symptoms.

No Single Cause of CSF

The causes of CFS aren’t fully understood yet. Some theories include viral infection, psychological stress, or a combination of factors.

Because no single cause has been identified, and because many other conditions produce similar symptoms, CFS can be difficult to diagnose.

There are no tests for CFS. Your doctor will have to rule out other causes for your fatigue when determining a diagnosis.

While CFS was previously a controversial diagnosis, it’s now widely accepted as a medical condition.

CFS can affect anyone, though it’s most common among women in their 40s and 50s. There’s currently no cure, but treatment can relieve symptoms.

Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CSF)

ME/CFS is a complex condition that can affect a range of bodily systems and functions.

Many of the possible symptoms resemble those of other conditions, making ME/CFS hard to diagnose.

The symptoms of ME/CFS can vary widely, but there are three core symptoms:

Reduced ability to function

A person with ME/CFS experiences fatigue that interferes with their ability to carry out daily tasks.

The fatigue:

  • Is severe
  • Does not improve with rest
  • Is not due to activity
  • Was not previously present

For a diagnosis of ME/CFS, this fatigue and the resulting decrease in activity levels must last 6 months or longer.

Post-Exertional Malaise

A person with post-exertional malaise (PEM) will experience a “crash” after physical or mental exertion.

During times of PEM, they may have new or worsening symptoms that include:

Following an event that triggers PEM, the person may be unable to leave the house, get out of bed, or do regular chores for several days or even weeks. The symptoms tend to become worse 12 to 48 hours after the exertion.

The trigger will depend on the individual. For some people, even having a shower or going to the grocery store can trigger PEM.

Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CSF)

The cause of CFS is unknown. Researchers speculate that contributing factors may include:

It’s also possible that some people are genetically predisposed to develop CFS.

Viral Infections

Though CFS can sometimes develop after a viral infection, no single type of infection has been found to cause CFS. Some viral infections that have been studied in relation to CFS include those caused by:

Bacterial Infections

Infections caused by bacteria, including Coxiella burnettii and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, have also been studied in relation to CFS.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested that CFS may be the end stage of multiple different conditions, rather than one specific condition.

In fact, about 1 in 10 people with EBV, Ross River virus, or Coxiella burnetii infection will develop a condition that meets the criteria for a CFS diagnosis.

Additionally, researchers say that those who’ve had severe symptoms with any of these three infections are at a higher risk for later developing CFS.

Individuals with CFS sometimes have weakened immune systems, but doctors don’t know whether this is enough to cause the disorder.

Patients with CFS can also sometimes have abnormal hormone levels. Doctors haven’t yet concluded whether this is significant, either.

Some people with CFS may concomitantly have some deficiencies in vitamins including B2 (riboflavin) or B12, but it is unclear if they improve with vitamin supplementation.

 

biospecimens

Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Human biospecimens are available including cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors for controls, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human biofluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.