Thursday, February 5, 2009

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Experts say that fatigue is not just a physical experience – it is also psychological. It is defined as a state that usually follows a period of mental or physical activity (or both). When you experience fatigue, you have a hard time working efficiently, if at all. You also feel weary and irritable.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a far more severe condition than regular fatigue. Its symptoms can include intense pain, weakness of muscles, deterioration of brain function, disturbances in the digestive system, depression, hypersensitivity, and more. In the worse cases, people with chronic fatigue syndrome can suffer from various cardiac and respiratory troubles. Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome usually have very little stamina to handle life's challenges.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has many various symptoms, and they should be identified early in order to find a remedy that works for you. People with chronic fatigue syndrome usually experience overpowering mental and physical exhaustion that cannot be relieved by rest or sleep. When a person shows these symptoms for six months or more, then he or she is diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome.

Causes of Fatigue

1. Usually the muscles fatigue when the workout or the exercise is new to the body muscles. As the muscles and the body is not used to the new exercise the body muscles gets stressed.

2. When your lungs are in desperate need of oxygen after the workout but they are not supplied with enough oxygen the muscles start to fatigue.

3. If your skin has continuously sweated and you did not have enough intake of water or any liquid the muscles and the body starts to fatigue.

4. At times the muscles also fatigue if they reach their physical limit of the workout, which means that the muscles get exhausted due to the workout and the exercise which in turn causes the muscles to fatigue.

5. Muscle fatigue can also be caused because of calcium flow inside the muscle cells. At times tiny leaks of calcium in the muscle cells, which weakens the muscle contraction also causes the fatigue. The calcium that is leaked from the muscle cells stimulates an enzyme that directly attacks the muscle fibers and this damage of muscle fibers cause the fatigue.


Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

No single cause of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been found so the exact cause of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is unknown, healthcare practitioner will try to rule out other conditions that cause fatigue such as food allergies, viral infections and adrenal gland dysfunction. The symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are at least 6 month of disabling chronic fatigue which symptoms may include difficulty sleeping, lack of concentration, joint and muscle pain, mild fever, swollen lymph nodes and short term memory loss.

Changing the diet may help with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), avoid salt, sugar, stimulants such as tea, coffee, chocolate, alcohol and eat little and often carbohydrates and fruit. Some individuals suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) found that exercise helped. This exercise has to be gradual and in very small amounts, one study found that an exercise of 30 minutes consisting of 3 minutes walking and 3 minutes resting was beneficial.


Treatment

Antibiotics and antifungal products. The same antibiotics used to remedy lyme disease and mycoplasma virus are sometimes prescribed to patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. The same is the case for antifungal drugs that are primarily used to treat yeast and fungus infections – they can be used, together with a low-carbohydrate diet, to treat chronic fatigue syndrome in some patients.

Food supplements. Food supplements or ‘immune enhancers’ may help the chronic fatigue syndrome patient rebuild stamina. They are also used to cure viral infections that may be causing the fatigue in the first place.

Hormones. Doctors prescribe hormones for chronic fatigue syndrome patients who fall within a hormonally imbalanced category. They can be given steroids and thyroid hormones.


Source: http://www.articlesbase.com


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