I was feeling very tired yesterday morning and decided to take a nap. After a while, I woke up feeling better, and I just had to start the day's work including hitting the road to travel to another state since I am currently doing my Youth Service but this isn't the same for everyone. Not everyone who is tired and takes a nap, go for a walk, or do some light exercise get the relief that they want and it isn't just their fault, it's just how life is for them especially for people suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).
Chronic fatigue is a common word people use on social media especially when they want to explain how tired they are, or maybe you have heard people mention it when describing symptoms associated with certain conditions, but those words do not describe chronic fatigue syndrome. The name itself doesn't do justice enough to what it means because it is not like what you suffer from after working an entire day actually, it is a neurological disease because the fatigue isn't caused by the hustling and grinding of the day, also, people who suffer from this disease usually do not feel refreshed after a long sleep. One thing people with this disease have noticed is feeling like one caught a flu after exercise making them feel sick than when they just began the exercise.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com
Currently, there are about 30 million people suffering from the disease around the world and if until now you didn't even know that this disease existed, it is because over 90% of people suffering from it are undiagnosed. I refer to it as a disease because it has been classified as a Neurological disease. When a person begins to suffer from this condition, it can be very discouraging as they would not be able to leave their beds or perform activities that they would normally do in the past. When they perform tasks that are physically demanding, they experience a drop in oxygen and heart rate significantly which is the complete opposite of what should be felt when a person performs exercise.
Imaging after a physical or mental strain, one begins to suffer symptoms which is characterized as Post Exertional Malaise which wouldn't show up until 24 hours after it had been triggered. Post Exertional Malaise symptoms includes extreme fatigue, flu-like symptoms (sore throat and swollen lymph nodes), Difficulty thinking and concentrating, inability to multitask, Inability too sleep, Severe Headache, Dizziness, Speech problems, Poor temperature control, and extreme pain.
This disease can be genetic or environmental but can also be triggered by an infection from another disease known as Epstein Barr virus (responsible for Mononucleosis) and scientists have realized that people infected with SARS CoV-2 also are likely to suffer from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis with study showing that half of the people who suffered long COVID meet the criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
Being able to differentiate these diseases from one another can be very tricky because what triggers Myalgic Encephalomyelitis has not been identified yet but scientists have come out with possibilities with one being that infection viruses turn on the gene switch that messes with our immune and nervous system. Getting diagnosed is very tricky as patient has to experience different symptoms from cognitive dysfunction, Lightheadeness, Extreme fatigue, and Protein-energy malnutrition.
Even after diagnosis which is difficult, one need to start thinking of management with one being starting exercise at the barest minimum and starting to increase it slowly as they can bare but the patient still has to deal with low blood oxygen level but at least they will be fine compared to doing the exercise at once. Currently, there are no Approved medication of the condition yet, but people are able to use medications to deal with their symptoms like painkillers for pain and prescription medications to help them with sleep.
Read More
- https://www.meaction.net/learn/what-is-me/
- https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9844405/
- https://www.covid.gov/be-informed/longcovid/about#term
- https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/57/5/418
- https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10278546/
- https://www.meaction.net/learn/people-with-me/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266637912300602X
- https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/causes/index.html
- https://www.uptodate.com/contents/infectious-mononucleosis
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00546-5/fulltext
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