VOA健康报道2023--Study: More Americans Affected by Long-term Tiredness

Study: More Americans Affected¹ by Long-term Tiredness

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released its most recent estimate for adults with chronic² fatigue³ syndrome⁴.

People with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) suffer from at least six months of severe tiredness that is not helped by rest. They can also report pain and mental confusion.

Health officials said the study was the first nationally representative estimate of how many U.S. adults have chronic fatigue syndrome. The study gathered information from 2021 to 2022. It found that 1.3 percent of American adults reported having CFS or something like it.

These numbers from the CDC are larger than earlier studies have suggested. They likely include people with long COVID, a condition of long-lasting sickness after a COVID-19 infection.

The findings led CDC's Dr. Elizabeth Unger to say that CFS "is not a rare illness." She was one of the writers of the report.

The tiredness and other symptoms of CFS can get worse after exercise, work, or other activity. There is no cure, and no testing leads to a quick diagnosis⁵.

No known cause

Doctors do not know the cause. However, research suggests it is the body's overreaction to an infection or other shock to the immune system.

The condition gained attention nearly 40 years ago, when many cases were reported in Incline Village, Nevada, and Lyndonville, New York. Some doctors dismissed it, calling it psychosomatic. Psychosomatic means a problem is mental or emotional rather than physical.

Some doctors also called it "yuppie flu." "Yuppie" stands for "young, urban professional," people who have good jobs and medical coverage⁶.

Some doctors still think CFS is a mental condition, experts and patients say.

Doctors "called me a hypochondriac and said it was just anxiety and depression," said Hannah Powell. She is a 26-year-old woman from Utah who was diagnosed after five years.

New findings from the report

The new CDC report is based on a survey of more than 57,000 U.S. adults. They were asked if a doctor or other health-care professional had ever told them they had myalgic encephalomyelitis, or CFS, and whether they still have it. About 1.3 percent said yes to both questions.

CDC officials said that results in an estimate of 3.3 million U.S. adults.

The study also reported other findings. It said that CFS was more common in women than men. White people reported the condition more than other racial and ethnic⁷ groups. Earlier, smaller studies reported similar findings.

The findings showed there was less of a difference between women and men than some earlier studies suggested. And there was little difference between Black and white people.

However, the study also found that a higher percentage of poor people reported the condition than wealthy people.

CFS is not a popular diagnosis

Dr. Brayden Yellman is a specialist at the Bateman Horne Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. He said patients who report the condition usually have health care coverage. He said doctors might believe them more when they say they "continue to be fatigued⁸ and can't go to work."

The CDC study is based on patients' memories. It did not use medical records. That could lead to overcounting. However, it is possible that only a percentage of people with CFS are diagnosed, said Dr. Daniel Clauw. He is director of the University of Michigan's Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.

He added that is not a "popular diagnosis to give because there (are) no drugs approved for it. There (are) no treatment guidelines for it."

The total number likely includes some patients with long COVID who were suffering from long-term tiredness, CDC officials said.

"We think it's the same illness," Yellman said. But long COVID is more widely accepted by doctors and is being diagnosed much more quickly, he said.

Powell, one of Yellman's patients, was a high school athlete who came down with an illness during a trip to Belize before her final year. Doctors thought she had malaria⁹, and she seemed to recover. But she developed chronic tiredness, had trouble sleeping, and had frequent vomiting¹¹. She said she slowly stopped playing sports and had trouble doing schoolwork.

After five years, a doctor said she had chronic fatigue. She began to regain¹² normal life through regular treatments of fluids and medications. She graduated from the University of Utah and now works for an organization that helps domestic violence victims.

Getting care is still a struggle, she said.

"When I go to the (emergency room) or to another doctor's visit, instead of saying I have chronic fatigue syndrome, I usually say I have long COVID," Powell said. "And I am believed almost immediately."

Words in This Story

confusion –n. an inability to think clearly

diagnosis –n. when a doctor says or confirms that a person has a medical condition

hypochondriac –n. a person who is worried about sickness and death more than normal

anxiety –n. a feeling of worry and high tension

survey –n. a study in which researchers ask people questions about what they think and report the results

fatigued –adj. feeling tired or worn out

vomit¹⁰ –v. to be sick in the stomach and to expel its contents out of one's mouth

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

4 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

5 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

10 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

11 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。