Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Causes & Symptoms

Chronic fatigue immune deficiency (CFID) is a mysterious condition. The severity of symptoms ranges from general exhaustion to debilitating pain and fatigue. The effects are not just physical. Some people with CFID complain of mental disturbances, such as confusion and an inability to concentrate.

Exhaustion

• CFID often causes debilitating exhaustion--the kind that renders normally active people bedridden. People with chronic fatigue suffer from an inability to concentrate and severe difficulty staying awake and completing daily tasks.

Joint Pain

• CFID can cause painful muscle cramps and aches and pain in the joints. Sometimes this pain is difficult to define as it is more of a general all-over ache rather than pain in a localized area.

Flu-like Symptoms

• Flu-like symptoms are common with Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency. These symptoms include a generalized achy feeling, headache, sore throat, and swollen tender lymph nodes.

Emotional Factors

• No single cause has been identified in all cases of CFID. The causes are varied from patient to patient. The complicated truth is CFID may be caused by the combination of various factors, according to a 2008 article on the University of Maryland Medical Center's website.

  It could be a result of hormonal and neurological factors. Instances of depression have been reported among many CFID sufferers. The body's reaction to stress is likely to be at least a secondary factor in the development of this disease. Some sufferers have an abnormally high level of the brain chemical serotonin. Extremely high levels of serotonin are associated with fatigue and mood disturbances.

Physical Factors

• Genetics are thought to play a significant role in the development of CFID. According to the University of Maryland's article, researchers have discovered a gene sequence that can predict CFID with an accuracy of 76 percent.

  The medical community is investigating the possibility that CFID may be caused by infection. In up to 80 percent of cases, the onset of CFID was sudden and accompanied by flu-like symptoms. Four out of five people with this disease have been found to have enterovirus, UMMC's article. The enterovirus infects the gastrointestinal tract and the respiratory system.

  There are theories and guesses as to the cause of Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency but no concrete evidence is available to say exactly what causes this disease. For now, health care providers treat the disease by treating the symptoms.