Low Blood Pressure
Low Blood
Pressure Abstract III
Neurally Mediated Hypotension and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Peter C. Rowe, MD, and Hugh Calkins, MD, Baltimore, Maryland
A substantial body of clinical evidence now supports an association between
various forms of hypotension and both idiopathic chronic fatigue and the
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Patients with CFS have a high prevalence
of neurally mediated hypotension, and open treatment of this autonomic
dysfunction has been associated with improvements in CFS symptoms. Randomized
trials are now in progress to evaluate the efficacy of treatments directed
at neurally mediated hypotension in those with CFS patients, and the results
of these trials should help guide more basic inquiries into the mechanisms
of orthostatic intolerance in affected individuals.