Source: Xinhua

01-07-2009 08:31

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Childhood trauma is a potent risk factor for the development of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS),shows a study by researchers at Atlanta's Emory University School of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Results of the study, published in the Jan. 5 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, confirm that childhood trauma, particularly emotional maltreatment and sexual abuse, is associated with a six-fold increased risk for CFS.

The risk further increases with the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

The study also found that low levels of cortisol, a hallmark biological feature of CFS, are associated with childhood trauma.

Cortisol is frequently referred to as the "stress hormone" and is important to regulate the body's response to stress. A lack of cortisol's effects may cause altered or prolonged stress responses.

"The study indicates that low cortisol levels may actually reflect a marker for the risk of developing CFS rather than being a sign of the syndrome itself," said Dr. Christine M. Heim, lead author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine.

The population-based study analyzed data from 113 people with CFS, and a control group of 124 people without CFS, drawn from a sample of almost 20,000 people in the U.S. state of Georgia. The results confirm earlier findings from a 2006 study conducted in Wichita, Kansas.