With more than one million people in the United States suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), we have a national healthcare crisis on our hands.
Millions more people have debilitating fatiguing illnesses that present with fewer or less severe symptoms than those indicative of CFS.

Many people are not getting help in dealing with CFS, while thousands and thousands of others don't even know that they have the illness at all.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), CFS is believed to affect people of both sexes and at every age (including adolescents and children), but it is quite common in 40- to 60-year-old women, among all races, and from all socioeconomic groups.
Possibly because of healthcare insurance coverage issues, the majority of patients seen by medical professionals in private offices or clinics are Caucasian.
However, studies suggest the highest occurrence rates actually may be in the Latino and African American populations.
If you suspect that you have CFS, do not pass go, do not stop to collect $200, take action today: Decide: Decide if you meet the preliminary criteria of having severe fatigue for 6 or more consecutive months and that is unrelieved by sufficient bed rest.
This may be accompanied by nonspecific symptoms, including flu-like symptoms, generalized pain, and memory problems.
Investigate: A physician should further investigate this for you.
Ask him (or her) for a thorough medical exam and give him a detailed medical history.
Any further testing might include a mental status examination and a standard series of laboratory tests of your blood and urine that may help your doctor identify other possible causes of why you feel so badly.
If other causes arise, he may order additional tests to confirm or deny other potential problems.
If no cause for the symptoms is identified, the physician may render a diagnosis of CFS if your health condition meets the CDC case definition.