The following presentation uses the P.E.R.I approach to understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Team B will define the health problem, identify the burden of the disease on the community, identify the cause of the problem, identify the burden of the disease on the community state and or national levels. The team will then identify potential solutions, explain the success of the solutions, provide additional solutions for treatment or resolution, and finally how the P.E.R.I model guided the understanding of the problem and its causes.

Currently no method of testing is available to accurately diagnose CFS. Physicians go through a process of elimination to rule out other causes of the symptoms.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), characterizes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as a debilitating severe fatigue that is not made better by rest and is worsened by physical activity. Those who suffer from CFS will have prolonged exhaustion (24 hours or more) following physical or mental activity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). CFS can lead to other debilitation co-morbidities including Fibromyalgia and severe headaches.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is affecting communities nationwide. The disease is affecting roughly 1 million Americans and public health is researching to help decline the risks to communities. Chronic fatigue syndrome and the effects of chronic disease on communities is growing, and with out a cure it will continue to have effects on communities. Debilitating fatigue and cognitive symptoms results in diminished functionality and increased economic impact. These costs are both direct and indirect and effect individuals, state, local and federal budgets.

Public health is collaborative planning with other agencies to provide solutions by diagnosing problem, collecting data, making recommendations and providing suggestions or solution based on evidence. Awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome ( CFS ) is nationwide and the number of Americans being diagnosed with this condition is growing.

The demographics of chronic fatigue has so many studies to help them to know exactly the strengths and weaknesses. This illness we would need to know and understand of how common the illness is, which individuals are the most susceptible of developing it, whether it can be transmitted to others and how the illness typically progresses individuals (Healing Well, 2000). In most of the communities they will need the understanding about the illness in order to know exactly what to expect from this illness. In many people that do have the CFS they have reduce of physical activity to less than half of usual, accompanied by some combination of muscle weakness, sore throat, mild fever, tender lymph nodes, headaches and depression(CFIDS,2012). So many individuals have CFS the communities are not aware of all who suffer with CFS. The ones who suffer with CFS are really sick and do not understand why they have this illness with all the symptoms.

As CFS has no known cure, physician struggle to help their patients by treating the symptoms of the disease. Because many of the patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome have depression or other psychological disorders, patients are treated with medication for depression, anxiety, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CGT) (PubMed Health, n.d.). Treatment is usually a combination of interventions, trialing to determine what combination is the best for the patient. Other treatments that have been performed with success include sleep management techniques, a healthy diet and exercise, and medication to manage the pain attributed to this disease (PubMed Health, n.d.).
More treatment solutions include avoiding excessive activity on days of increased fatigue, ensuring the correct balance of activity, rest, and sleep, and dividing up large tasks into smaller tasks (PubMed Health, n.d.). Another suggestion is to “spreading out more challenging tasks throughout the week,” (PubMed Health, n.d., para. 11). All interventions that encourage a patient’s relaxation and decrease stress are also recommended. These include biofeedback, deep breathing exercises, hypnosis, massage, meditation, yoga, and muscle relaxation (PubMed Health, n.d.).

The success of the describe solutions varies from individual to individual. As all the known treatments for this incurable disease are to treat the symptoms, the outcome for people inflicted with this disease also varies (Pountney, 2009). The goal of achieving “normal” may actually exacerbate the illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The side effects for the prescribed medication can actually be worse that the original symptoms.

The complications of this disease even with treatment are continued depression, failure to hold a job and interact in social activities. This isolation only adds to the course of the disease (PubMed Health, n.d.).

The P.E.R.I model helped our team to understand the cause of the problem by providing us with a path to researching and gaining information concerning the problem via the internet.

Our research of CFS gives us the knowledge on what the disease is, what population that it targets and statistics on the percentage of individuals that are diagnosed with this illness. By using the PERI model as a team we can now understand the underlying cause of this illness and understand ways of preventing and treating this illness. Researching information about this disease gave us a foundation on what this disease is and what it can do to an individual that has it. Through use of the P.E.R.I. model the team took the time and information and thought about available solutions and discuss those not found in our research (Riegelman, 2010).

The cause of CFS is not yet known, but a growing number of researchers are dedicated to uncovering the cause, mechanism of disease, and effect on the body. Current research shows evidence of immune system dysfunction in CFS. The exact nature of this dysfunction is not yet well defined, but is generally viewed as an unregulated or overactive state. Considerable evidence indicates that CFS patients have a dysfunction of the central nervous system. Researchers are trying to identify the agent responsible for causing CFS. “Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a serious and complex illness that affects many different body systems,” (Emerging Worlds of Progressive Medicine, n.d., para. 3). The extreme fatigue combine with neurological problems and numerous other symptoms helps identify this disease (Emerging Worlds of Progressive Medicine, n.d.). “CFIDS can be severely debilitating and can last for many years. CFIDS is often misdiagnosed because it is frequently unrecognized and can resemble other disorders, “(Emerging Worlds of Progressive Medicine, n.d., para. 3). Through the use of the P.E.R.I Model the team was able to fully investigate this debilitating disease. Though there is no cure for CFS, it is believed through aggressive research discovering effective treatments will help those with the disease return to a level of activity that they had prior to the onset of CFS.