Q Do you feel at risk from chronic fatigue syndrome?
It was reported in City on Friday that a University of Hong Kong study had suggested engineers were the most likely victims of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), quoting a doctor, Yue Yan-mun, as saying engineers suffered more physical and mental stress than other professions.
The report added that the study was conducted last year, when we know that unemployment, which is stressful, in construction engineering was the highest in Hong Kong and those remaining in employment were overworking to hold jobs.
Dr Yue was no doubt referring to the well-known common cause of the symptoms associated with CFS, namely constriction of the vertebral arteries in the neck, which feed blood to the subconscious brain. This can be caused by physical shock to the neck or by stress tightening the neck muscles. If the government would ease its unnecessary pressure on construction engineers, the result of the next survey might be quite different.
Ken Bridgewater, New Territories
I agree that teachers are at high risk of suffering from CFS. I am a teacher and fully experience this phenomenon. I think the problem has been caused by a kind of stupidity in school management that focuses on doing more instead of thinking more.