Who Gets CFS?
Introduction
| Who Gets CFS?
| Introduction
| The Name
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Nobody knows what causes CFS, although there are many theories. We don't want to get too technical here, but we will offer a brief summary of the ideas that have been proposed.
Most theories about what causes CFS fall into one of three groups:
In this model, "CFS" is not considered one entity. Instead, it is many different illnesses with different causes but similar symptoms. An example this model fits is mental illness. At one time, all mental illness was thought to have a single cause; now mental illness is known to be an umbrella category for many discrete medical conditions.
This theory says that there is more than one agent which can cause CFS, but whatever causes it, the symptoms are the same. In this theory, the person is prone to getting CFS for some reason, such as genetics or a past infection. Other illnesses caused by common pathways include infectious mononucleosis (mono).
In this theory, there is one agent which causes CFS. There are many illnesses that follow this model, including measles and tuberculosis.
Each of these theories includes one or more agents. These agents could be viruses, bacteria, autoimmune problems, chemical exposures, or many other things. People have found many agents that seem to have some association with CFS, but so far none can be said definitively to be the cause of CFS.
| Who Gets CFS?
| Introduction
| The Name
|