If you’re constantly tired, even after a good night’s sleep, scientists think there may be a little-understood reason for it.
For the first time, NIH-funded scientists have found that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is seven and a half times more common in people infected with Covid.
About one in 20 Americans who have had the virus suffer from the condition, which causes exhaustion after performing simple tasks, orthostatic intolerance (dizziness when standing), unrefreshing sleep, cognitive impairment and fatigue.
Since virtually every American has had Covid, the researchers said there could be millions of new cases of chronic fatigue syndrome that would go undiagnosed.
There is no cure for chronic fatigue, but doctors can try a range of medications to address symptoms, including antidepressants and mood stabilizers, as well as physical therapy and talk therapy.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is diagnosed by a doctor through a review of your medical history, a physical examination, and by ruling out other possible conditions. Currently, no test can definitively diagnose the condition.
The researchers found that Covid infections can increase the risk of developing chronic fatigue syndrome.
Dr. Suzanne Vernon, research director at the Bateman Horne Center and lead author, said: ‘This study underlines the urgency for healthcare providers to recognize post-COVID-19 ME/CFS.
‘Early diagnosis and good management can change lives.’
The most common symptom was post-exertional malaise (PEM), reported by almost 16 percent of acutely infected patients and 29 percent of people who had recovered from infection
An estimated 3.3 million Americans suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a long-term condition that causes exhaustion, brain fog and pain for six months or longer.
The research was part of the NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, aimed at better understanding, diagnosing and treating long Covid.
Chronic fatigue is believed to be the result of the body going all out against an infection, causing the immune system to go into overdrive and then stay in overdrive when it is no longer needed.
About 11,800 people who took part in the study had been infected with Covid, while just over 1,400 had not.
Researchers published questionnaires every three months from October 2021 to September 2024.
Of those infected, 4.5 percent had chronic fatigue syndrome, compared to 0.6 percent of patients not infected with Covid.
Nearly 40 percent were “ME/CFS-like,” meaning they had at least one symptom of the condition, and about 56 percent reported no fatigue symptoms.
Forty-five percent of those who met criteria for chronic fatigue were also identified as among the most symptomatic long Covid patients, highlighting the overlap between the two conditions.
The most common symptom was post-exertional malaise (PEM), reported by almost 16 percent of infected patients and 29 percent of people who had recovered from infection.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a life-changing condition. About 75 percent of people who have it are unable to work
Orthostatic intolerance (dizziness when standing) was the second most common form, with 14 percent of those infected and 25 percent of those post-infected reporting it.
Other symptoms such as unrefreshing sleep, cognitive impairment and fatigue were more common in post-infected participants. All symptoms were less common in uninfected participants compared to those who were infected.
The research has been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The prevalence of chronic fatigue could be increasing, the researchers said, noting that before the pandemic, an estimated 0.2 percent to one percent of Americans were living with CFS.
A nationwide survey conducted in 2021 found that about 1.3 percent of American adults had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome by a doctor, suggesting to researchers that post-COVID cases of CFS could increase the number of people affected across the country. country could already increase.
Fatigue is common in people suffering from long Covid-19, an amorphous condition that consists of a constellation of symptoms, from brain fog and fatigue to heart inflammation and joint pain.
It is a life-changing condition. About 75 percent of people who have it are unable to work.
CFS causes fatigue, sleep disturbances, brain fog/trouble thinking, dizziness and orthostatic intolerance (the medical term for when standing up causes symptoms), headaches, muscle weakness and pain, and more.
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It can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms can change in how often they occur and how severe they are over time.
The most common symptom is post-exertional malaise, or the worsening of symptoms after doing something physical or mental.
Daily activities such as showering, driving, reading and even talking can cause PEM, making normal tasks exponentially more difficult.
ME/CFS is still seen as a multi-system condition that affects different parts of the body. However, the pandemic has brought increased attention to how Covid can cause or worsen it.
Several studies have shown an overlap in the symptoms reported by patients with long COVID-19 and ME/CFS.
An estimated 17 million Americans are suffering from a long bout of Covid-19, which manifests differently in each person.
Some people experience only shortness of breath and fatigue, while others experience only brain fog and difficulty concentrating.
This makes diagnosing long Covid a challenge.
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Two years ago, American, Danish and British researchers concluded that Covid has long been ‘greatly exaggerated’. Soon after, another British scientist acknowledged that the condition is real, but argued that more patients are labeled with it than actually have it.
Last week, a new study found that some patients given a 15-day course of Paxlovid – the drug used to treat Covid – showed significant improvements in symptoms they had been suffering for years.
Five of the thirteen patients – 38 percent – showed sustained improvement, but almost all benefited temporarily.
Dr. Michael Peluso, principal investigator at UCSF’s long Covid research program, said: ‘If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past four years, it’s that long COVID is complex, and figuring out why some people benefit so remarkably from antiviral treatment while others don’t is one of the most important questions for the field.
“We will have to embrace that complexity to get answers for the millions of people who suffer from this condition.”