Aerobics can conquer fatigue

Aerobic exercise can help patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome regain their energy, researchers have claimed.

Dr Peter White and colleagues at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London said experiments on 66 volunteers showed aerobics helped sufferers reduce fatigue and feel better overall.

Reporting in the British Medical Journal, they said 16 out of 29 patients who took aerobic exercise felt better, as opposed to eight out of 30 who did flexibility exercises and relaxation therapy.

Those given flexibility classes were then offered the aerobic alternative. Three months later, 32 of 47 said they felt better and only one felt worse.

The term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is used to classify a variety of symptoms whose causes are not entirely clear. Once derided as "yuppie flu", it is now becoming accepted and recognised by many doctors as a physical disorder.