Т е к с т  3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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CFS is one of several names given to a poorly understood, variably debilitating disorder of uncertain cause/causes. Based on a 1999 study of adults in the United States, CFS is thought to affect approximately 4 per 1,000 adults. For unknown reasons, CFS occurs more often in women, and adults in their 40s and 50s. The illness is estimated to be less prevalent in children and adolescents, but study results vary as to the degree.

CFS often manifests with widespread myalgia and arthralgia, cognitive difficulties, chronic mental and physical exhaustion, often severe, and other characteristic symptoms in a previously healthy and active person. Despite promising avenues of research, there remains no assay or pathological finding which is widely accepted to be diagnostic of CFS. It remains a diagnosis of exclusion based largely on patient history and symptomatic criteria, although a number of tests can aid diagnosis Whereas there is agreement on the genuine threat to health, happiness, and productivity posed by CFS, various physicians' groups, researchers, and patient activists champion very different nomenclature, diagnostic criteria, etiologic hypotheses, and treatments, resulting in controversy about nearly all aspects of the disorder. Even the term chronic fatigue syndrome is controversial because a large part of the patient community believes the name trivializes the illness.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is not the same as "chronic fatigue Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but CFS is a multi-systemic disease and is relatively rare by comparison. Definitions (other than the 1991 UK Oxford criteria)  require a number of features, the most common being severe mental and physical exhaustion which is "unrelieved by rest" (1994 Fukuda definition) and may be worsened by even trivial exertion (a mandatory diagnostic criterion according to some systems). Most diagnostic criteria require that symptoms must be present for at least six months, and all state the symptoms must not be caused by other medical conditions. CFS patients may report many symptoms which are not included in all diagnostic criteria, including muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, hypersensitivity, orthostatic intolerance, digestive disturbances, depression, poor immune response, and cardiac and respiratory problems. It is unclear if these symptoms represent co-morbid conditions or are produced by an underlying etiology of CFS. Some cases improve over time, and treatments (though none are universally accepted) bring a degree of improvement to many others, though full resolution may be only 5-10% according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Signs and symptoms

The majority of CFS cases start suddenly, usually accompanied by a "flu-like illness" which is more likely to occur in winter, while a significant proportion of cases begin within several months of severe adverse stress. Many people report getting a case of a flu-like or other respiratory infection such as bronchitis, from which they seem never to fully recover and which evolves into CFS. The diagnosis of Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome is sometimes given in the early stage of the illness. One study reported CFS occurred in some patients following a vaccination or a blood transfusion. The accurate prevalence and exact roles of infection and stress in the development of CFS however are currently unknown.

Т е к с т  4. Group of Eight

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Canada - Prime Minister Stephen Harper, France - President Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel (President of the G8 for 2007), Italy - Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russia - President Vladimir Putin, United Kingdom - Prime Minister Tony Blair, United States - President George W. Bush.

The Group of Eight (G8) is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, these countries represent about 65% of the world economy. The group's activities include year-round conferences and policy research, culminating with an annual summit meeting attended by the heads of government of the member states. The European Commission is also represented at the meetings.

Each year, member states of the G8 take turns assuming the presidency of the group. The holder of the presidency sets the group's annual agenda and hosts the summit for that year. The presidency for 2007 belongs to Germany, which hosts the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm from June 6 to June 8.

History

The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialised democracies emerged following the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent global recession. In 1974, the United States created the Library Group, an informal gathering of senior financial officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany and Japan. In 1975, President Valery Giscard d'Estaing invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet. The six leaders agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming the Group of Six (G6). The following year, Canada joined the group at the behest of U.S. President Gerald Ford, and the group became known as the Group of Seven (G7). The European Union is represented by the President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in 1977.

The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Russia became the successor state. Beginning with the 1994 Naples summit, Russian officials held a separate meeting with leaders of the G7 after the main summit. This group became known as the Political 8 (P8), or colloquially as the "G7 plus 1". At the initiative of United States President Bill Clinton, Russia formally joined the group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8). This was partly a gesture of appreciation from Clinton to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who steadfastly pursued economic reforms in Russia and remained neutral to the eastward expansion of NATO. This decision is not without its detractors; on February 18, 2005, United States Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain called for Russia to be suspended from the G8 until democratic reforms and political freedoms in Russia are ensured by Russian President Vladimir Putin.