A formal case definition was published in the U.S. in 19881 and revised in 19942, but many physicians believe it to be outdated and inadequate. For over twenty years, since the first clear clinical presentation of CFS in the United States by Straus3 and Jones4 and the American CFS epidemic reported in Lake Tahoe5, treatment of CFS has been dominated by pharmaceutical, nutriceutical, herbiceutical, or alternative medical interventions.
After all this time there is still no consensus on what optimal therapy looks like, and many reasons to believe this lack of consensus will continue for years to come. With the advent of stem cell therapy in chronic illness, we enter a new era in medicine where old therapeutic ideas are being challenged by new ideas about therapies more appropriate for the treatment of complex chronic illness.
