Exercise is often a problem for people with CFS because physical activity can worsen their symptoms. Medical opinion has been divided on whether people with CFS should attempt regular exercise or not – some believe that gentle exercise is helpful, while others caution against any form of aerobic activity.

Research has found that patient education on CFS and a graded exercise program can improve symptoms in many cases and, on average, is not likely to worsen outcomes.

Tips For CFS Exercise

• Exercise may not be possible for everyone

Some people with CFS, especially in the weeks or months following onset, are unable to perform the most basic activities such as showering or walking from one room to another. In such cases of extreme exhaustion and pain, the person may be confined to their bed.

As time passes, the person may feel a little better and attempt regular exercise. However, aerobic activity can cause a relapse of symptoms. The added problem for people with CFS is that a sedentary lifestyle causes a range of other health problems including muscle wastage, loss of bone mass, and increased risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

• Potassium

Medical problems that cause low levels of the electrolyte potassium often include chronic fatigue as a symptom. The bulk of the body’s potassium supply is found in muscle tissue, with the rest in the brain, blood and internal organs. A 2004 study by researchers at Adelaide University found that people with CFS have less total body potassium (TBP) than healthy people of similar age and weight.

Exercise Suggestions For Chronic Fatigue

A person with CFS needs a gentle approach to physical activity and should only make tiny increases in the frequency, duration and intensity of their exercise program.

Be guided by your doctor or physiotherapist, but general suggestions include:

• Aim for no more than three exercise sessions per week.
• Experiment to find the type of exercise that works best for you. Choose from a range of gentle activities such as stretching, yoga, Tai Chi, walking and light weight training.
• Stretching seems to be well tolerated by people with CFS. You may prefer to perform your stretching program while lying down in bed.
• Aerobic exercise seems to cause relapses for many people with CFS. If this is true for you, try non-aerobic forms of exercise like weight training with light weights.
• Keep an activity diary so you have a long-term picture of your performance levels and factors that might impact on fatigue.
• Learn from past relapses. For example, if walking for 20 minutes worsened your symptoms, try walking for five minutes and see how that goes. Use your activity diary to keep track of what works for you and what doesn’t.
• Stop the physical activity well before you feel tired. Pacing yourself is very important.
• Remember that your exercise tolerance will differ from one day to the next.
• If possible, monitor your heart rate during exercise with a heart rate monitor or by manually taking your pulse.
• Listen to your body – if you don’t feel up to exercising on a particular day, don’t.
• Slowly increase the intensity, time spent or frequency of exercise, but only when you know you can cope with it. For example, if you can exercise for five minutes without suffering a relapse, try for six minutes.

Military troops who served in Vietnam and the Gulf Wars; rescue workers involved in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing; survivors of accidents, rape, physical and sexual abuse, as well as other crimes; immigrants fleeing violence in their home countries; survivors of the 1994 California earthquake, the 1997 South Dakota floods, and hurricanes Hugo and Andrew; and people who witness traumatic events are among the people who may develop PTSD. Families of victims can also develop the disorder.

Who Is Most Likely to Develop PTSD?

People who have been abused as children or who have had other previous traumatic experiences are more likely to develop the disorder. Research is continuing to pinpoint other factors that may lead to PTSD.

Symptoms of PTSD?

• Many people with PTSD repeatedly re-experience the ordeal in the form of flashback episodes, memories, nightmares, or frightening thoughts, especially when they are exposed to events or objects reminiscent of the trauma.
• Anniversaries of the event can also trigger symptoms.
• People with PTSD also experience emotional numbness and sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety, and irritability or outbursts of anger. Feelings of intense guilt are also common.
• Most people with PTSD try to avoid any reminders or thoughts of the ordeal.

PTSD is diagnosed when symptoms last more than one month.

Co-occurring depression, alcohol or other substance abuse, or another anxiety disorder are not uncommon. The likelihood of treatment success is increased when these other conditions are appropriately diagnosed and treated as well.

Headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, immune system problems, dizziness, chest pain, or discomfort in other parts of the body are common. Often, doctors treat the symptoms without being aware that they stem from PTSD. NIMH, through its education program, is encouraging primary care providers to ask patients about experiences with violence, recent losses, and traumatic events, especially if symptoms keep recurring. When PTSD is diagnosed, referral to a mental health professional who has had experience treating people with the disorder is recommended.

Post Traumatic Stress Details

At least 3.6% of U.S. adults (5.2 million Americans) have PTSD during the course of a year. About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. One million war veterans developed PTSD after serving in Vietnam. PTSD has also been detected among veterans of the Persian Gulf War, with some estimates running as high as 8 percent.

PTSD can develop at any age, including in childhood. Symptoms typically begin within 3 months of a traumatic event, although occasionally they do not begin until years later. Once PTSD occurs, the severity and duration of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others suffer much longer.

PTSD Treatments

Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, and exposure therapy, in which the patient repeatedly relives the frightening experience under controlled conditions to help him or her work through the trauma, as well as medications that help ease the symptoms of depression and anxiety and help promote sleep. Scientists are attempting to determine which treatments work best for which type of trauma.

Different Types of Disabilities:

“A disability”, according to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is defined as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities”. This is a very broad definition of a disability. There are numerous types of disabilities which affect millions of individuals every day. Some may be acquired at birth, or it may be acquired slowly with growth, or others still may have been caused by an accident of some sort. No matter what disability type one belongs to, each of them have their own set of inhibitors and difficulties. Some of the commonly known categories and types of disabilities are:

Visual Disability: This type of disability may include sub-categories of :

• far-sightedness or near-sightedness
• complete blindness
• or color blindness.

This disability type can range widely in severity. While millions of people suffer from minor eye problems, many others still, face the severe visual impairment of loss of complete vision or color from their eyes.

Hearing Impairment: A person suffering from hearing impairments can be considered :

• Partially deaf, if they are hard of hearing. Varying degrees of hearing aids are available to assists such individuals to hear well.
• Or completely deaf, when they are unable to listen to any kind of sound or noise. Sign language is often the only kind of language used to communicate with such individuals.
• Physical Disabilities: There are many different types of disabilities that fall under this category. A disability is considered physical when it restricts any kind of mobility in a person. The most commonly experienced disability types within this category are:
  - Loss of limbs or any other part of the body that restricts movement
  - Injury to the Spinal Cord that leaves the individual wheelchair ridden
  - Arthritis
  - Stroke
  - Paralyzed arms and legs, also known as Quadriplegia
  - Cerebral Palsy

Learning/Cognitive Disabilities: Similar to physical disabilities, cognitive and learning disabilities encompass a wide range of different types of disabilities under it. This type of disability limits brain functions of an individual. It hinders mental growth and individuals suffering from it usually have a hard time in thinking, solving, expressing and languages. Some of the commonly known disability types within this category are:

• Dyslexia: affects ability to read
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): loss in ability to concentrate
• Down’s Syndrome: Mental retardation
• Autism: Neurological disorder resulting in reduced social interaction
• Dysgraphia: affects ability to write

Acquired Disability: This type of disability is generally acquired at virtually anytime and is not restricted or dependent on any particular gender, ethnicity or age group. It can affect almost anybody, though it is often more commonly found in concentrated regions. Acquired disabilities too can be split into sub-categories of different types of disabilities. The commonly known ones are:

• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Multiple Sclerosis: Disorder of the Central Nervous System
• Alzheimer’s Disease: A progressive loss in memory

Various types of disabilities affect individuals all over the world. There are so many divisions of these disability types in numerous categories that it becomes impossible to name all of them. However, it is helpful to know the type of disability group one belongs to in order to identify with that category. Each of these disability types differ greatly, but all individuals who experience them face tremendous hardships. Help is available in various forms to make lives a little easier for individuals facing these different types of disabilities.

References:

1. For parents of visually impaired children – Family Connect
2. Types of Disability – Disabled World