Article abstract:

Pediatric chronic fatigue syndrome: current perspectives, by Esther Crawley in Dove Press  Vol 9, #4, pp 27—33 [Published March 29, 2018]

Pediatric chronic fatigue syndrome is an important illness as it is relatively common and also very disabling with a wide range of impacts on the child, the family, and health care systems.

It is a complicated illness but the majority of children get better with specialist treatment.

This literature review provides an update on the epidemiology of chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalomyelitis, including factors associated with it, and discusses the current evidence for treatment.

Problems with current research

Research into this important illness is hampered by small sample sizes, different definitions, and the lack of a coordinated approach. CFS is probably not one illness, and it is likely that the different phenotypes are due to different underlying biological pathways requiring different treatment approaches. This may explain the relatively low response rate to current treatments.

To develop better treatments, we need larger trials with carefully characterized participants to understand more about treatment response. We need to develop treatments in the areas identified previously where there is no evidence for effective treatment. This includes the treatment of CFS and comorbid mood disorders, CFS in primary school children, those who are severely affected, and those with refractory fatigue.

We also need to start to develop an understanding of the biology of CFS/ME and whether different biological pathways are associated with different disease phenotypes. Some early studies with small sample studies suggest that an omic approach to dissecting out the different subtypes may help to clarify different biological pathways. This approach will require a large bioresource of well-characterized patients.

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