 | | | | Medical Health Encyclopedia | | A diagnosis of CFS must include:
- Extreme, prolonged fatigue
- Absence of other causes of chronic fatigue (excluding depression)
- At least 4 of the other symptoms listed
There are no specific tests to confirm the diagnosis of CFS, though a variety of tests are usually done to exclude other possible causes of the symptoms.
There are some typical findings on tests that, while not specific enough to diagnose CFS, are seen consistently in people who are eventually diagnosed with the disorder. These include:
- Higher levels of specific white blood cells (CD4 T cells) compared to other types of white blood cells (CD8 T cells)
- Brain MRI showing swelling in the brain or destruction of part of the nerve cells (demyelination)
- Specific white blood cells (lymphocytes) containing active forms of EBV or HHV-6
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