Chronic fatigue, and its more severe counterpart, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), are not new diseases. These conditions have been known under a multitude of other names for many centuries.

The public and the medical establishment in many countries have tried to understand what are the primary causes of fatigue. Early-on it was understood that there were likely many candidates that were involved in causing fatigue. In the late 1800′s, the medical people termed fatigue and its constellation of symptoms, “neurasthenia.”

The first World War marked a time where chronic fatigue was a major complaint for millions of American and European citizens. It was such a major problem that the medical community tried to find out why so many people were tired all the time.

Medicine doesn’t do well with conditions that have a large symptom picture and neurasthenia was just that type of condition. Doctors were constantly trying to define the condition with a less broad and more narrow understanding and apply specific names:

* Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

* Fibromyalgia

The Medical Establishment doesn’t understand the underlying causes of fatigue. Without a knowledge of the causes, no effective therapies are provided to help people alleviate their suffering.

Yet, all of the these conditions share the similarity of a constellation of symptoms:

* fatigue

* depression

* muscle weakness

* gastrointestinal disturbances

* gastrointestinal disturbances

* inflammation

* inflammation

* inflammation

* depression

* and many other debilitating symptoms

Chronic fatigue presents a complex symptom picture. Physicians are unable to make a diagnosis based only on symptoms. All of the tests that doctors use to understand why people are so tired fail to turn anything up.

The Specific Causes of All Forms of Fatigue Remain a Mystery to Modern Medicine

The best that anyone can say about this whole syndrome of chronic fatigue is that it arises because of multiple agents acting at the same time. Naturally, this befuddles medicine who is used to the idea of “one cause/one disease.”

Since the medical community has no solutions for dealing with fatigue, many people are turning to alternative therapies and ideas. Medicine shouts not to do that because, they argue, these therapies are unproven. The alternative arena has treatments that work but it is also populated by marketers who don’t provide effective solutions.

In my view, the best way to deal with chronic fatigue is to use the therapies that do exist in the alternative arena as long as you can find trusted and truthful guides. Some effective treatments include:

* appropriate exercise

* the judicious use of diet

* the most appropriate diet is low-carbohydrate

* yet this diet is maligned by the medical community

* the use of selected vitamins, minerals, and herbs

* unfortunately, the public is not trained in choosing these

* of course, medicine knows nothing of this due to its reliance on drugs

By using effective alternative therapies, many people have overcome their chronic fatigue and eliminated the symptoms from which they suffered. The medical community is clear that they have been unable to define the causes of chronic fatigue and, therefore, admit to having no effective therapies.

Medicine does not like competition either in business or in philosophy. As such, it argues against alternative therapies are useless, ineffective, and unproven. But the only hope for the public who suffers from chronic fatigue lies in the alternatives to modern medicine. Effective therapies are out there but you need to be careful whose advice you follow.