the chronic fatigue syndrome(SFC) would also affect adolescents aged 13 to 16, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics. During the school year 2% of them are affected for 6 months and 3% for 3 months. As a result, these high school students will miss more than half a day of classes each week.
Researchers at the University of Bristol (UK) conducted a study with 5,756 young participants aged 13 to 16. The findings of their survey showed that girls are twice as likely as boys to suffer from CFS, like children from the poorest families.
Scientists have especially emphasized that CFS present in adolescents is often undiagnosed. In fact, 2% of adolescents aged 13-16 are affected by this pathology over a period of 6 months and nearly 3% of them suffer from it over a period of more than 3 months.
In the majority (94%) of affected adolescents, the diagnosis is not made and on average, affected middle school students miss more than half a day of school each week.
Chronic fatigue syndrome in numbers
The syndrome chronic fatigue is a constant and repeated state of fatigue which does not decrease after rest and which often has no identified cause. In addition to persistent severe fatigue, patients with CFS experience tender cervical lymph nodes, memory or concentration problems, headaches and feverishness.
In France, 150,000 people are affected by this pathology, according to figures from the French Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The frequency of this disease has been estimated by the World Health Organization to be between 0.1% and 3% of the population. To date, it is difficult to diagnose it and no effective treatment exists to treat it.
“To date, no biological or organic marker can identify this syndrome. It is a difficult diagnosis which requires the exclusion of other diseases responsible for chronic fatigue (example: Cancer, endocrine diseases, systemic inflammatory diseases, psychiatric, autoimmune …) ”recalls the French Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Read also:
Lack of sleep in adolescents leads to obesity in adulthood
Teens are getting more and more sleep deprived
Sleep: teens need sleep to grow taller
