Weakness is a lack of physical or muscle strength and the
feeling that extra effort is needed to perform daily activities
that require you to move your arms, legs, or other muscles.
Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness, exhaustion,
or lack of energy.
Both weakness and fatigue are symptoms, not
diseases. Because these symptoms can be caused by many other
health problems, the importance of weakness and fatigue can only
be determined when other symptoms are evaluated.
The complaints of weakness and fatigue are among the most common
and challenging problems encountered by clinicians. Because
patients may use these terms to describe a variety of symptoms,
the physician should attempt to obtain a precise understanding
of the problem.
Weakness and fatigue are nonspecific symptoms that may be
encountered in a bewildering number of medical and psychiatric
disorders; they also may be the expected physiologic consequence
of normal human activities.
Many factors, complex and sometimes apparent,
are basic contributors to the Weakness & fatigue state.
Among them:
Hypovitaminosis:
Severe depletion of nutrients in the body. Low levels of
essential vitamins and minerals create a vulnerability.
The environment:
Noise is a powerful factor. The incessant bombardment of
cacophony in the home, the workplace, and outdoors contributes
heavily to weariness and fatigue.
Modern music,
the blaring of radio and television that seems to be so
overwhelming a part of everyone's life, can be a serious source
of bodily stress.
Stress:
Physical and psychological tensions eventually reduce the body's
ability to ward off fatigue. The vulnerability created induces
anxiety, fearfulness, and apprehension.
Routine work:
Housework, factory work, operating computers, and practically
all other endeavors that deal with a constant flow of sameness
provide the possibilities of fatigue syndrome. Rest periods and
scheduled diversions are necessary.
The night person:
Anyone out of synchronization with the work-a-day world is
especially vulnerable to unusual fatigue. That individual, whose
circadian rhythms do not match those of most people, experiences
a stressful juxtaposition of day and night. The syndrome
accounts for the inability of these individuals to "come to
life" until evening approaches.
Sexual hostility:
This can be a common instigator of fatigue. Men or women who
resent or resist conjugal relations with a particular partner
and who are incapable of acknowledging or resolving those
emotional conflicts are often swept by fatigue. The proverbial
"headache" may be more than a hackneyed excuse.
Ambivalence can lead to fatigue.
Menstruation: The
menses and its drain upon the female psyche and physique can be
genuinely wearying. This is especially true in women whose
nutritional defenses are low and who lack proper levels of B
vitamins
Nutrition: A
factor in physical and mental disease, nutrition is a feature
player in creating vulnerability in both sexes of all ages to
the ravages of fatigue. Strong fortification against such
weariness would be a truly well-balanced diet that ensures
copious quantities of all essential vitamins and minerals.
In summary, weakness & fatigue is not a single entity but
can be a "grand concealer," deceptively disguising
various forces that go astray in the human body. It should be
taken more seriously than the use of an alcoholic drink to
"relax."
