Things You Should Know about the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic

Ostrom ( What Really Killed Gilda Radner? Frontline Reports on the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic ) here presents many disturbing issues and concerns about chronic fatigue syndrome, a poorly understood constellation of symptoms affecting Americans, both children and adults. Claiming that this syndrome has reached epidemic levels, she presents an assortment of studies and views seeking to answer why the condition, in her reckoning, has been largely ignored by the government and frequently misdiagnosed by the medical profession. Unfortunately, Ostrom, who has covered the continuing CFS story for the New York Native , seems preoccupied with pushing her own theories (e.g., that the syndrome is related to the African swine fever), calling on research that some will consider dated, and linking the AIDS epidemic with CFS. Without a doubt, we still have much to learn about chronic fatigue syndrome; research is ongoing. But Ostrom seems to mislead by emphasizing questionable findings, making inflammatory statements and espousing the unconfirmed CFS-AIDS connection. (Apr.)