NEWSBRIEF: New research, funded by the CDC, shows that people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) have high blood levels of an inflammatory chemical known to increase your risk of developing a wide array of other diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, dementia and cancer.
The chemical is called c-reactive protein (CRP), and it's considered a predictor of many serious illnesses. Along with ME/CFS, CRP was high in study participants who had some symptoms of ME/CFS but didn't meet diagnostic criteria. Inflammation was strongly associated with the level of a person's disability, while mental symptoms such as anxiety were not.
Researchers say CRP is elevated in too many conditions for this finding to have any diagnostic use.
Related Content: What Causes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?; Diagnosing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
That’s interesting. I have both FMS and CFS, and I’ve always had high fibrinogen levels (which also can indicate non-specific inflammation). The doctors would assume I had something like lupus, but then my rhumatoid factors would come back negative. I was finally diagnosed with FMS, and they quit looking for other things. I don’t think I’ve had CRP tests done, though. When I get insurance again, I think I’ll ask the doc to run the test.