SCIENCE / MEDICINE : Study Links Depression to Fatigue Syndrome

Depression may be the primary cause of debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome, the so-called “yuppie flu,” and not a common virus, scientists reported last week in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

University of Washington researchers said comparisons of 26 people who suffered from chronic fatigue and 18 others with no medical complaints turned up no evidence the syndrome is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), as some past studies had suggested.

EBV, which causes mononucleosis, had been suspected of causing chronic fatigue because many victims of the disease showed signs of being infected with it.

The primary symptom is long-term lethargy that leaves victims unable to function normally and often, unable to work.

The new study revealed that those with chronic fatigue had “a strikingly higher rate of lifetime and current major depression than controls.” Thirteen of the chronic fatigue sufferers had experienced at least one episode of major depression before the onset of their illnesses.