Background:
A recent European clinical study tested 100 chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients. They took oral NADH tablets called ENADA®. CFS patients reported relief from their fatigue, increased strength and endurance, and a boost in energy. It was the results of this clinical study and others that lead to the further testing of NADH as a CFS medical treatment.

NADH is non-toxic. It can be taken with other medications without any adverse drug interactions. If someone you know needs to take other medications, they can safely take NADH

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is marked by progressive or persistent fatigue, tiredness, muscle aches and pains, headaches and a sore throat. There are no known doctor- approved therapies or treatments. There is no known cure. The causes of chronic fatigue are unknown. Experts know that CFS causes the body's immune system to "go berserk" but they're not sure why.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not new. The first cases were reported over 100 years ago. Previously, it has been referred to by several different names including:

• the Yuppie Flu in the mid-1980's
• Epstein Barr Syndrome
• Epstein Barr Virus
• Chronic Fatigue And Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS)

Chronic fatigue is difficult to identify and diagnose. Studies have shown that CFS is the most misdiagnosed disease. How long and how often it's been misdiagnosed is hard to determine.

As recently as December 1994, a team of expert doctors re-defined chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). In re-defining CFS, doctors from the U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other prominent medical institutions have narrowed the list of chronic fatigue symptoms from 11 to 8 symptoms. The re-defined list of CFS symptoms by such prominent medical authorities made it a serious disease in the minds of health care professionals around the world.

CFS: who suffers?:
Information from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC) is summarized in the list below.

The NIH and the CDC believe that it is not always possible to know "who is" or "who will be" affected by CFS, but the following facts can help diagnose the disease:

• CDC believes the recent rise in reported cases of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) could approach near epidemic levels in this century.
• It's estimated that more than 6% percent of the U.S. population suffer from CFS.
• Today, 1 in every 16 people in the U.S. may suffer from CFS symptoms.
• A recent study finds most CFS patients reported that their troubles began after mononucleosis, a viral infection, or after a very stressful event.
• 80 percent of the reported CFS cases are women.
• CFS symptoms strike their victims between the ages of 20 and 40 years old.
• Today, CFS cases among school-age children and young adults are on a dramatic rise.
• Most often these younger CFS cases occur with victims that have had a history of allergies or another condition that required significant antibiotic treatments.

Author's note: Some types of allergy medications and some types of antibiotics medications raise the levels of free radicals in the body. See the section called NADH nature's most biologically potent antioxidant for more information about the damage caused as a result of free radicals.

CFS: the symptoms:
U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC), and the National Institute of Health (NIH) recently narrowed the list of chronic fatigue symptoms from 11 to 8 symptoms. The CDC and the NIH state that CFS sufferers will have had at least 4 of the following symptoms persistently for 6 or more consecutive months:

1. progressive or persistent fatigue
2. problems with short-term memory or an inability to concentrate
3. a sore throat
4. tender lymph nodes
5. unexplained muscle pain or pain in the joints without swelling or redness
6. headaches of a new pattern or severity
7. unrefreshing sleep
8. a tiredness which persists more than 24 hours after exertion (exercise).

If you're like us, you probably want to know which 3 CFS symptoms were dropped from the CDC's official "List of Symptoms for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."   Here they are:

• mild fever or mild chills
• unexplained weakness limited to certain muscles
• feeling of depression

Although it's no longer considered an 'official' CFS symptom, every person we've known who suffers with CFS, suffers from depression. They didn't feel depressed all the time. What they said was:

• at times 'depression' did over-take them during their fight with CFS.

We have included the section NADH: Depression & chronic fatigue. It is the next section, which will follow these pages on CFS.

The most severe phase of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) can last for 18 months or more. During this severe CFS phase the victim could sleep nearly 20 hours a day. The CFS sufferer could experience intense muscle and / or joint pain without any associated redness or swelling. During the most severe phase, the victims have reported many problems with their short term memory and cognitive functions. Some have said CFS would reduce their ability to function to less than an hour a day.

. . . chronic fatigue, part 3 starts on the next page