Yaso Shan introduces chronic fatigue syndrome, gives a working definition, outlines treatment options and highlights the problems facing practitioners in making an accurate diagnosis

Few conditions baffle medical science as much as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), but ever since the term ‘yuppie flu’ was coined, the scientific community has been desperately trying to understand the mechanisms and all the manifestations of this intriguing medical disorder. The media labelling of yuppie flu in the 1980s appeared to trivialise this complex and debilitating condition, which is characterised by significant pain and fatigue. It proved immensely frustrating to sufferers who were not taken seriously. Much of this battle stemmed from trying to define CFS and it continues to this day with many of the health professionals confused about terminology. This is unsurprising since the scientific community were unclear what to call this group of symptoms and how to distinguish it from any other clinical presentations that are distinct and separate to this syndrome. Further confusion resulted when various other terminologies were incorrectly applied to CFS. Other autoimmune conditions such as post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), fibromyalgia, neurasthenia and post-infectious fatigue syndrome (PIFS) are often applied to CFS but Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) would probably fit the description of CFS the best.