State of weakness, both psychic and muscular, characterized by lack of energy and loss of enthusiasm.
recommendations
To reduce the sensation of asthenia, it is important that patients with heart failure remain active, performing physical exercise of progressive intensity. Walking, swimming, or cycling are great ways to exercise. When the patient notices any symptoms, he must stop, to later resume his path once recovered.
Etiologies
- Infectious
- Metabolic
- Endocrine
- Neurological.
We can only speak of asthenia when the possibility of fatigue caused by organic causes has been ruled out.
Mechanisms of Asthenia
The current theory of neurophysiologists points to the intervention of the center of wakefulness in the phenomena of asthenia. This is located in the reticular area of the brain stem and is called the activating reticular system (SRA This SRA reinforces reflex motor activity , wakefulness and perception , in addition to activating certain cortical cells . The non-activation of this center is responsible This would explain the polymorphous symptoms of asthenia.
May appear
It usually presents with recurrence in several conditions, anemia , mononucleosis , multiple sclerosis , fibromyalgia , heart failure , among others. It tends to appear more often in people between the ages of 20 and 50 and especially in women and patients with heart failure. It is mainly due to the fact that, since the heart does not pump blood in sufficient quantities, the muscles do not have all the supply of oxygen and nutrients that would be desirable.
When a patient with heart failure experiences difficulty in making efforts (even mild ones, such as walking on the flat), it is important to distinguish whether it is due to being tired (asthenia) or because they feel suffocated when exercising. As we have mentioned, generalized weakness is usually of muscular origin. On the other hand, the sensation of suffocation ( dyspnea ) is due to the accumulation of fluid in the lungs , since this fluid hinders the normal oxygenation of the blood .
Symptoms
Feeling of lack of energy and motivation, exhaustion, tiredness, complication of intellectual functions such as memory , attention, concentration and alertness, altered perception of the outside world, anxiety , personality disorders, alteration of sexual functions , decreasing sexual desire and erectile dysfunction and physical disorders such as: loss of appetite, muscle fatigue and sleep disorders.
Likewise, heart and cancer conditions, pregnancy , dependence on alcohol and drugs , depression and abuse often trigger symptoms of asthenia.
Treatment
Although there is no single treatment to cure asthenia, there are some tips that can alleviate the symptoms and even prevent their appearance, including: leading a healthy life, which includes exercising, eating at indicated times and healthy foods ( cereals , fruits and vegetables ), avoid consuming excess fats and always keep the body very well hydrated. The treatment of functional asthenia rests on two main bases: dietary rules and herbal medicine.
Dietary Rules
Asthenia can appear as an announcing sign of other present diseases:
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Hyperlipidemia
- Atherosclerosis
- Metabolic overload
Phytotherapy
In case of asthenia, the classic treatments propose the ingestion of exciting products. The herbal medicine can treat asthenia in a comprehensive manner and in depth. For this purpose, there are mainly three plants with known antiasthenic effects :
- Ginseng
- Eleutherococcus
- Tail
Observation
When the suffering of asthenia is prolonged in time, medically, the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome is usually decreed .