NIH.gov "Fatigue" (24 April 2015)

[Asa]

From NIH.gov "Fatigue" (last update 24 April 2015): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003088.htm

Fatigue is different from drowsiness. Drowsiness is feeling the need to sleep. Fatigue is a lack of energy and motivation. Drowsiness and apathy (a feeling of not caring about what happens) can be symptoms that go along with fatigue....

The pattern of fatigue may help your doctor determine its cause. For example, if you wake up in the morning rested but quickly develop fatigue with activity, you may have a condition such as an underactive thyroid....

Fatigue can also occur with the following illnesses....

"CFS" is not included in the list of illnesses. Instead, information about fatigue and medication is listed, and then a note about "CFS" (not ME or SEID) is tacked on at the end.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a condition that starts with flu-like symptoms and lasts for 6 months or more. It is diagnosed based on the presence of a specific group of symptoms and after all other possible causes of fatigue are ruled out. Most people with CFS do not get much relief from rest

And followed immediately by (but presumably as "treatment" for all fatigue):

Home care... Exercise regularly...Learn better ways to relax. Try yoga or meditation...Change or reduce your stressors, if possible. For example, take a vacation or resolve relationship problems... Take a multivitamin. Talk to your doctor about what is best for you..."

References: Bennett RM. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds.Goldman’s Cecil Medicine [and] Griggs RC, Jozefowicz RF, Aminoff MJ. Approach to the patient with neurologic disease. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds.Goldman’s Cecil Medicine

Updated [21 April 2013] by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc., Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Bethanne Black, Stephanie Slon, and Nissi Wang.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability...

Page last updated 24 April 2015.

Note: The Wayback Machine has a record of this page dating back to 2001. At that time, the term "chronic fatigue" was used within the general info on fatigue, but neither "chronic fatigue" nor "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" are listed with fatigue-causing illnesses. The term "chronic fatigue" however links to a page on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, described as a "condition". (Alternative names includes Yuppie flu.)

By 2004, it seems that "chronic fatigue" was replaced with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on the fatigue homepage. Here too, it's described as a "condition" and is not included in the list of illnesses in which fatigue is a common symptom.

 

[WillowJ]

the fault likely lies with A.D.A.M., the medical encyclopedia contractor. If they can be corrected, everyone who carries their product (a lot of hospitals and clinics, insurers, etc.) would have better information.

 

[WillowJ]

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This is another place where it's killing us not to have a medical specialty.

 

[duncan]

I worry when definitions begin by telling the reader what the word does not represent.

Also, fatigue = lack of motivation? An instant tie between a physical symptom and a character flaw? So, apathy is related to fatigue, but not part of its definition, while lack of motivation is considered an essential component.

This is a different fatigue then, than say metal fatigue. I'm not sure what role lack of motivation plays there.

I seem to have missed the part that equates fatigue with exertion intolerance.

 

[Asa]

Note on References: no dates/editions are named. And the Goldman’s Cecil Medicine books seem to be owned by Elsevier.

See also, for example, from "thegodofpleasure" (15 March 2015): "...I can recommend following Prof. Coyne - @CoyneoftheRealm - on Twitter, where he is currently engaged in an ongoing (heated?) dialogue with Editors at Elsevier Publishing related to censorship and the gagging of alternative viewpoints..." (@thegodofpleasure)

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...name-real-treatments.36194/page-4#post-572977

Seems too that some other problem texts are published by Elsevier. (Sorry not able to search and cite them at this time.)

 

[Asa]

Also, fatigue = lack of motivation? An instant tie between a physical symptom and a character flaw? So, apathy is related to fatigue, but not part of its definition, while lack of motivation is considered an essential component.

This is a different fatigue then, than say metal fatigue. I'm not sure what role lack of motivation plays there.

I seem to have missed the part that equates fatigue with exertion intolerance.

Re mental fatigue: People who've experienced a stroke or traumatic brain injury experience fatigue too. These patients often do a lot of rehab, right? That is not "lack of motivation".

Also, after looking again at the list of illnesses, I noticed:

Infection, especially one that takes a long time to recover from or treat, such as bacterial endocarditis (infection of the heart muscle or valves), parasitic infections, hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) AIDS, tuberculosis, and mononucleosis.

Yet info that "CFS" often begins after an infection is not included.

 

[Denise]

FWIW - the page has different dates about updating.
Update Date 4/21/2013 <-- seems to refer to the most recent update by A.D.A.M.

Page last updated: 24 April 2015 <--- seems to refer to the most recent NIH update (though I have no idea what was changed)

 

[Jammy88]

well at least that's better than it was 10 yrs ago. Maybe in 2030 we'll be happier about the way our condition is considered - and, hopefully, treated.

Best