Researchers at John Hopkins Childre...

Researchers at John Hopkins Children's Center Baltimore, have institute a link between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and joint hypermobility, according to a tribe 6, 2002, news release from John Hopkins Medical Institutions. Researchers studied 116 children aged 10 and older half of whom had been diagnosed with CF Joint hypermobility was determined by way of the ability of participants to

* bend the pinkie finger back more than 90 degrees

* bend the thumb to touch the forearm,

* hyperextend the knee more than 190 degrees

* hyperextend the shoulder more than 190 degrees, and

* place palms flat forward the floor without bending the knees

The participants with CF were three and one-half times more likely to have hyperflexible joints than their healthy counterparts. The consideration findings contradict the widely shared clinical observations that populace with CFS have normal physical examinations.

Fatigue and pain symptoms of CF can interfere with daily life and cause absences from drill Children with CFS also many times have orthostatic intolerance, a condition associated with excessive pooling of progeny that results in heart and descendants pressure problems, headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms.

Researchers stres that joint hypermobility alone is not a direct cause of CF Approximately 20% of healthy adolescents have joint hypermobility, and greatest in quantity do not develop CFS. cogitation findings suggest, however, that joint hypermobility is an important factor in the progressive growth of CFS or may be associated with another factor that predisposes a someone to develop CFS.

Flexible Joints Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Researchers Find (new release, Baltimore: John Hopkins Medical Institutions, tribe 6, 2002) http://www.hopkins medicine.org/press/2002/September/020906A.htm (accessed 13 generation 2002).

COPYRIGHT 2002 Association of Operating latitude Nurses, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group