ATLANTA, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Traumatic events in childhood, stress or emotional instability at any period in life may be linked with chronic fatigue syndrome, say Atlanta researchers.
Christine Heim of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and Emory University compared 43 individuals with CFS to 60 controls without CFS who were all part of a large study of Wichita, Kan., residents.
All participants -- average age 50.5 -- underwent a medical examination, provided their medical history and were interviewed to detect psychiatric disorders. The participants answered a questionnaire that screened for five types of childhood trauma: emotional, physical and sexual abuse and emotional and physical neglect.
For each additional type of childhood trauma experienced, the risk of having CRS increased by 77 percent; the risk increased by 6 percent for each additional point increase in total trauma score.
"In sum, it appears that CFS is part of a spectrum of disorders that are associated with childhood adversity," the authors write in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
