Genetics May Play Role in Chronic Fatigue
(Atlanta, AP, 4/21/06)

Over two days, doctors performed psychiatric and physical assessments on 227 people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in Wichita, KS. Then four teams of investigators—including medical, biological, mathematical and engineering experts—scrutinized the resultant data, including 500 clinical measures and 20,000 measures of gene expression. The researchers found a link between chronic fatigue and elevated allostatic load, “a stress measure of hormone secretions, blood pressure and other signs of wear and tear on the body.” They also found a connection between the condition, which is characterized by chronic exhaustion, and certain variations in five stress-moderating genes. These findings suggest that CFS may result from a genetic makeup that is not suited for dealing with physical and/or psychological stress.

(Pharmocogenomics, April 2006)