Child Trauma and Stress Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
People who have experienced trauma and abuse during childhood are more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a recent article in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
In addition, neuroendocrine dysfunction, ie abnormalities in the interaction of nervous system and endocrine system seems to be associated with childhood trauma in people with this syndrome, suggesting a biological pathway by which early experiences influence the vulnerability to disease in adulthood.
Chronic fatigue syndrome affects approximately 2.5 percent of adults in the United States, health officials said. Little is known about the causes and development of this condition.
Risk factors include female gender, genetic predisposition, personality traits and physical and emotional stress.
“The stress along with other risk factors likely to cause chronic fatigue syndrome through its effects on the central nervous system and neuroendocrine and immune systems, resulting in functional changes that lead to symptoms such as fatigue and disorder sleep, cognitive impairment and pain, “the article said.
Christine Heim, School of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues studied 113 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and 124 healthy individuals served as control group.
The participants, who were selected from an overall sample of 19 381 adult residents of Georgia, reported on whether they had experienced childhood trauma, including sexual abuse, physical and emotional, and physical or emotional neglect.
Also underwent screening for depression, anxiety and PTSD, and measured their level of cortisol in saliva. Low levels of this hormone may indicate a decreased function of the main system of neuroendocrine response to stress in the body.
Individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome realize higher levels of exposure to childhood trauma, and this relationship appeared associated with a six-fold increase in the risk of the condition.
Sexual abuse, emotional abuse and emotional neglect appeared more closely linked with chronic fatigue syndrome. Patients with this syndrome were more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress than individuals in the control group.
