To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Mental Impairment And Functional Incapacity Linked In Chronic Fatigue URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/6BBEE.htm Doctor's Guide April 9, 1998
LONDON, ENGLAND -- April 9, 1998 -- The degree of functional incapacity resulting from chronic fatigue syndrome parallels the level of cognitive impairment, finds a study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. Furthermore, psychiatric factors do not explain these findings. Researchers assessed the mental and physical capacities of 53 patients with the syndrome and 32 healthy people who did not exercise regularly, using questionnaires and a battery of standardised neuropsychological tasks. The tasks focused on verbal and visual memory as well as attention and concentration. The results showed that patients with higher numbers of failed scores reported significantly more days of inactivity in the previous month than those with fewer failed scores. Patients with failing verbal memory scores were particularly functionally disabled compared with those who passed this test. The significance of the association was not simply a consequence of psychiatric factors -- anxiety, panic and phobias -- and depression, the results showed. There was absolutely no evidence to suggest that the cognitive impairments caused the functional disability. The link between the neuropsychological deficits and the functional impairment in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome is similar to findings in patients with HIV, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and stroke, explained the authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.