Alpha Nutrition Health Education
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Prevalence
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CFS & Food Allergy, the Mechanism of Disease
We do not view the chronic fatigue syndrome as a discrete disorder so that the question of prevalence cannot be answered directly. The real question is how prevalent is chronic ill health, characterized by fatigue and other symptoms?
The best answer is probably that more than 50% of adults in Canada and the USA suffer from chronic ill health with fatigue as a dominant symptom. We are talking about an ill-defined illness without clearly defined boundaries. No specific medical test, nor diagnosis reveals a single cause or process involved in the disorder.
"Associated" Disorders
Once you have the concept that people fit into boxes like "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," you artificially separate people from the causes and connections that link their disease with other diseases. People with chronic fatigue are said to have associated symptoms. They, in fact, have a multisystem, polysymptomatic disease. You have to consider that chronic fatigue is a little box inside a much bigger box. You then ask: "what is the common cause or common mechanism of all the conditions in the bigger box?
Commonly associated problems include
- Sore throat
- Enlarged, tender lymph nodes
- Increased fatigue and/or flu-like illness following exercise
- Joint pains
- Insomnia
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches (migraine and non-migraine);
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Other GI diseases
- Allergies
- Cognitive Difficulties - trouble concentrating, impaired memory
In Canada, a women's health survey revealed the surprising statistic that 70% of women identified fatigue as their number one health concern. In an ongoing US study of perimenopausal women, 20 % have trouble with simple physical tasks such as carrying groceries, walking one block and dressing alone. 55% reported aching and stiffness in joints, neck or shoulders.
A research group in London Ontario, interested in assessing the prevalence of Fibromyalgia, contacted 4674 adults; 3395 (72.6%) agreed to be interviewed. Recalling the previous 3 months:
- 34.8% reported some musculoskeletal pain lasting at least 1 week, 6.5% chronic widespread pain,
- 54.5% frequent fatigue, and 21.5% frequent fatigue that significantly limited activities.
(The Prevalence of Fibromyalgia (FMS) in London, Ontario. K. White, M. Speechley, M. Harth,T. Ostbve UWO, London, Ontario Canada N6A 5A5 )
Clearly, chronic ill health is a "normal condition" among adult North Americans. Aching and fatigue are the two most common complaints.
Gulf War Syndrome
The investigation of the Gulf War Syndrome has provided us with some useful statistics and a look at symptom clusters in a large population of Americans. In response to veterans' concerns about potential health effects resulting from service during Operations Desert Storm/Shield, the (US) Department of Defense (DoD) initiated the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program (CCEP). The CCEP has provided in-depth medical examinations to approximately 13,000 service and family members. Their report summarizes the diagnostic results of 10,020 participants who have finished their medical evaluations. Symptoms and diagnoses seen in CCEP participants resemble those seen in the general population and in patients seeking primary care.
The most frequently reported chief complaints were:
fatigue (11%)
joint pain (11%)
headache (8%)
memory loss (4%).
Among the reported symptoms, whether a chief or associated complaint, the most common symptoms from the symptom questionnaire included: fatigue (47%), joint pain (47%), headache (39%), memory loss (33%), sleep disturbance (32%), and difficulty concentrating (27%). The average number of reported symptoms for CCEP participants was five.
Symptom Prevalence was compared with that reported in 3 studies of outpatient medical practice in the United States. There appeared to be a strong consistency of reported symptoms between large population studies of outpatient medical clinics and symptoms reported by CCEP participants. Fatigue was reported by 22-58% (CCEP 47%) of respondents; joint pains by 26-59% (CCEP 47%); headaches by 21-37% (CCEP 39%), and sleep complaints by 15-35% (CCEP 32%). Also common in these surveys, were dyspnea for 14-32% (CCEP 16%) and abdominal pains for 11-24% (CCEP 16%).
The similarity of these particular CCEP symptoms in the U.S. general clinic population was further confirmed by examining data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS). This national sample of medical clinics in the United States reported, that in 1989, the estimated number of outpatient visits in the United States was: 7 million visits for fatigue; 9.6 million visits for headaches; 17 million visits for joint pains; 14 million visits for skin rash; and 7 million visits for depression. Patients commonly report experiencing multiple symptoms. Studies have shown that when patients complete symptom checklists one third of patients complain of 0-1 symptoms, one-third complain of 2-3 symptoms, and one-third complain of 4 or more symptoms.
The CCEP report re-stated our basic premise:
"Symptom syndromes or illnesses manifested solely by combinations of symptoms with no consistent objective findings on physical examination or positive laboratory abnormalities and for which an adequate etiologic explanation is yet to be determined, are common in clinical practice and the general population. Symptom syndromes include entities such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and depression."
Our view is that the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and related disorders are not discrete diseases in the usual sense, but patterns of maladaptive responses to food and the environment. We believe that chronic fatigue syndrome is an expression of non-specific hypersensitivity disease and should be treated with diet revision as the first and most essential form of therapy.
The Alpha Nutrition Program is designed to improve chronic fatigue and related disorders. The most definitive clearing program is a food holiday, using an elemental nutrient formula (Alpha ENF), composed of nutrients in their pure form with no other food intake. Alpha ENF allows a sick person to return to a baseline of normal functioning, without the intake of numerous adverse substances that may have been present in their food supply.
The best way to start is to order the Fatigue/Fibromyalgia Rescue Starter Pack .
The fatigue rescue page explains this approach in more detail.
