Can exercise help diagnose chronic fatigue?
One of CFS's primary symptoms goes by the mouthful "post exertional malaise." What that means is getting really worn out after even moderate exercise or activity. Experts in exercise physiology from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Kinesiology say studying the way people recover from exertion can provide objective evidence of CFS.
Here's how they say it works: a patient rides a stationary bike until he or she is fatigued. Then, researchers take several measurements and (here's where it really gets exciting!) a blood sample. Why blood? To test it for lactate, which builds up in your body when you exercise. The next day, the patient goes back and does it again. Someone without CFS will likely be able to match the previous performance, while someone with CFS still hasn't recovered from the first bike ride and therefore won't do as well. Researchers say several measurements, including the blood test, will show the actual physiological differences in people with chronic fatigue.
Let's hope they're right, so we can finally have a better way to diagnose CFS and help people with it escape the stigma of the diagnosis by exclusion.
Comments
That would be so good. When you can manage to put an act on most of the time, people tend to be unaware of the time you spend lying down and taking pain medication after doing practically nothing (compared with what you used to do). Some test results on paper would be very good to show the people close to you that tou just ‘need to lose weight’ (which you never had before you got sick), and ‘get out and do some excercise’.
I have long felt that the post-exertional malaise phase of CFS may hold some important clues for understanding the illness. When one’s body is burning, aching, and completely exhausted following exercise, surely there must be ways to measure some of the things happening in the body. If testing for lactate following exercise sessions could be a way of diagnosing the CFS, that would be a huge step forward.
Very strange, one of the people from our local Support Group contacted them to participate in the trial and was told they were ONLY taking people from the Calgary area for the trial.
I’ve never seen “trials” where “locality” by itself was a exclusion criteria.
Hmmmmm
I would like to read the information about this research. Is it available on the Internet? Thanks…great article.
would like to read the information about this research. Is it available on the Internet?
Here’s the link for more information on this study: http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/december2007/chronic-fatigue
Thanks, everyone, for your comments!