The term asthenia in medicine is used to refer to a complex of disorders, manifested by increased fatigue, sleep disturbance, mood instability, indifference to food, loss of interest in life.
Asthenic syndrome can occur after the illnesses or on their background, as a result of prolonged stress.
A careful examination of the patient helps to correctly diagnose the diagnosis, after a course of treatment in most cases asthenia passes.
Causes of
Asthenia is a psychopathological condition, many doctors believe that asthenic disorders should be attributed to the initial stage of development of serious mental and neurological diseases.
Asthenia should be able to separate from usual fatigue or weakness after illness.
General characteristic causes of asthenia:
- overstrain of higher nervous activity;
- lack of supply of essential trace elements and nutrients;
- pathological disorder of metabolic processes.
All these factors in different age periods in most cases occur in the life of each person, but not always they lead to the development of asthenic disorders.
Provoking development of asthenia can result in somatic diseases, trauma and disturbances in the work of the nervous system. And the symptoms of asthenia can be observed both before the disease itself, and in the midst of the disease and during the recovery period.
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Among the diseases leading to asthenia, several groups are distinguished:
- Infections - SARS, food poisoning, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract - ulcers, gastritis, pancreatitis, enterocolitis, severe dyspeptic disorders.
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system - infarction, arrhythmias, hypertension. Renal pathology - glomerulonephritis, chronic pyelonephritis.
- Diseases of the bronchopulmonary system - pneumonia, chronic bronchitis. Injuries, postoperative period.
- Neurological disorders.
Asthenic disorders develop more often in people who do not think their life without work and therefore do not get enough sleep and refuse to rest. Signs of asthenia are also evident when you change your place of residence, work, after trouble or serious distress.
Classification of asthenia
Asthenia is accepted in medical practice to classify by many features, it is necessary to choose the tactics of treatment.
For reasons of origin, it is common to subdivide asthenia into:
- Organic , which develops after infectious and somatic diseases, after trauma, degenerative changes in the brain. Organic asthenia is defined in almost 45% of cases.
- Functional asthenia is a reversible condition that develops as a protective reaction to stress, depression, excessive mental and physical stress.
For the duration of the course of the disease, it is common to asthenia to subdivide into:
- acute;
- chronic.
As a rule, acute asthenia is usually functional. The chronic course of the disease is caused by organic disorders.
According to the clinical signs of asthenia, is divided into:
- hypersthenic form , characterized by increased irritability and excitability of the person;
- is a hyposthenic form of , manifested by a decreased response to any external stimuli.
For reasons of occurrence of asthenic syndrome, is subdivided into:
- postinfective;
- is a postpartum;
- is somatogenic;
- is post traumatic.
The correct classification of the disease helps the doctor correctly determine the treatment tactics.
Clinical picture of
Asthenia has characteristic symptoms that are divided into three main groups:
- by its own manifestations of asthenia;
- disorders, underlying the disease;
- psychological response of the patient to asthenia.
The main signs of asthenia are taken by to count:
- Fatigue. With asthenia, fatigue does not go away even after a long rest, it does not allow a person to concentrate on work, leads to absent-mindedness and to a complete lack of desire for any activity. Even their own control and efforts do not help a person return to the desired regime of life.
- Vegetative disorders. The development of asthenia almost always leads to abnormal blood pressure, increased heart rate, heart failure, decreased appetite, headaches and dizziness, a feeling of heat or the opposite of chills all over the body. There is a breakdown in sexual function.
- Sleep disturbance. When asthenia, a person can not fall asleep for a long time, wakes up in the middle of the night or wakes up early. Sleep restless, does not bring the right rest.
There are flashes of rudeness, aggression, sharp mood swings are observed, self-control is often lost. A prolonged course of asthenia leads to the development of depression and neurasthenia.
A characteristic feature of asthenia is the condition in which a patient feels well in the morning , and after lunch all symptoms and signs of the disease begin to increase.
By the evening, asthenic disorder usually reaches its maximum. When asthenia is also observed increased sensitivity to bright sources of light, sharp sounds.
People with asthma are affected by all ages, often with signs of illness in children and adolescents. Modern young men and girls often have asthenia associated with the use of psychogenic and narcotic drugs.
To asthenia must be taken very seriously, it is not just a manifestation of ordinary fatigue, but a serious illness that can lead to serious consequences in the absence of therapy.
Diagnostic Approach
Asthenic disorders can be suspected in a patient by a doctor of any specialty.
To clarify the diagnosis of the patient, it is necessary to ask in detail about disturbing symptoms, learn about the behavior, quality of sleep, attitude to work and to the surrounding life.
Evaluation of the neurological and psychoemotional state of is performed by a neurologist.
In order to find out the underlying cause of asthenia development, it is necessary to determine the presence of pathological disorders in the body.
The patient needs advice from cardiologist, therapist, nephrologist, gastroenterologist, pulmonologist.
Assign blood tests, according to the indications of ultrasound of internal organs, MRI of the brain, gastroscopy, lung radiography.
Only on the basis of all the data obtained from a comprehensive survey, the decision is made to choose a therapy regimen. Most often, functional asthenia with timely treatment in a medical institution is eliminated in a few weeks.
Treatment of
syndrome The treatment of asthenia occurs depending on the prevailing symptoms and the identified provoking disease.
To begin with, it is necessary to deal with with the therapy of revealed violations of , in order to prevent their further negative influence on the psycho-emotional sphere.
A specific scheme has been developed, which most doctors try to apply in practice in the treatment of asthenia. The stages of treatment of asthenic disorder are:
- Observance of the day regimen. The patient needs to adjust his life schedule so that there is room for a full rest, walks in the open air, for sports. It is useful for asthenia swimming, contrast shower. Improves the state of rejection of bad habits. Some patients are helped by a change in the field of activity.
- You need to revise your food. For breakfast, there must necessarily be porridge or food that provides energy for a long time. From coffee and
strong tea is best to give up. With asthenia, products containing tryptophan - cheese protein, eggs, bananas, turkey, and coarse bread are useful. It is useful to constantly eat fresh berries and fruits. - Medical treatment of asthenic disorders in most cases is reduced to the use of adaptogens - ginseng, magnolia vine, eleutherococcus. Vitamin complexes with basic trace elements - zinc, magnesium, potassium - are often prescribed. In some cases, nootropics are used, but their use is justified if brain damage is detected.
- Antidepressants is appointed by a psychiatrist based on a patient's examination and the severity of asthenia.
- Traditional methods of treatment often recommend for taking soothing herbs.
- Some patients are helped by sanatorium treatment, long rest on the nature.
A full course of treatment of the underlying disease and asthenic disorder leads to normalization of the general well-being of the person.
Carrying out preventive treatment, avoiding the influence of stress and observing the regime of the day, it will be possible to minimize the risk of re-development of asthenia.
Prognosis and consequences
Asthenia in the absence of treatment can lead to the development of neurasthenia, depressive state, hysteria.
Chronic asthenic disorders lead to a violation of the concentration of attention , to absentmindedness and therefore many people can not work with complex equipment. In this case, the WEC Commission determines the degree of disability and recommends other work.
The success of asthenia treatment depends on the mood of the patient. The more optimistic view on the possibility of recovery, the more realistic that asthenic disorders will be completely.
Asthenia can occur in each of us, it's not worth worrying about. The main thing to remember is that a timely trip to the doctor will help in the shortest possible time to return to normal life.
