In recent times many men and women come to the clinic with a complaint of sever weakness, saying that they are not able to do any work and feeling so tired. This we call medically persistent weakness.
According to several studies, a significant portion of the population in India experiences tiredness and weakness, including 81% of the population feels their energy is draining throughout the day. More than 70% of people feel they don’t have enough energy in the evening. A survey of 3,000 women aged 18–50 found that more than 12% reported chronic fatigue or exhaustion. Risk factors include older age, socioeconomic deprivation, gender disadvantage, and symptoms of mental disorders. A study of 1,874 patients in Pune found that the prevalence of clinically significant functional fatigue or weakness was 5.02%. In several ayurved clinics patients with weakness are seen more than in the psychiatry and medicine clinics.
Causes of weakness:
Infections, such as respiratory infections, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and viral infections, thyroid conditions, such as hypothyroidism, electrolyte imbalances, such as low or high levels of sodium, potassium, and calcium. Also in sarcopenia, a condition that causes a gradual loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, often as a result of aging or inactivity, weakness, fatigue, loss of energy, balance problems, and difficulty walking or standing a condition linked to a decline in mobility and independence in older adults
Weakness refers to a specific loss of strength in voluntary muscle movement, usually complained of as an inability to complete a specific and familiar act. The symptoms can be delicate. Patients sometimes ignore even prominent degrees of weakness until noticed by friends or family such as foot drags or limping or informed by the examiner’s tests. The presence of weakness can reflect disease or dysfunction at any level of the nervous system: muscle, neuromuscular junction, peripheral nerve or root, or parts in the brain and indirect involvement with generalized dysfunction in electrolytes such as sodium, potassium imbalance, low function of thyroid or high function of certain drug intoxications, starvation or cancers. Painful areas of bone and joint inflammation can induce local, non-neurogenic weakness as a protective response of our body against the further discomfort of movement.
Persistent weakness is a prolonged feeling of fatigue, lack of energy. It can be related to the endocrine system in several ways. The endocrine system is a network of glands and organs that produce hormones to control and coordinate many bodily functions: The endocrine system controls many important functions, including growth and development and metabolism, which is the chemical reactions in the body’s cells that change food into energy. Our bodies need this energy to do everything from moving to thinking to growing. Specific proteins in the body control the chemical reactions of metabolism, reproduction, energy level, and response to injury, stress, and mood. Hormones produced by the endocrine glands control multiple bodily functions, including metabolism, energy levels, muscle strength, and sleep cycles. The hormones are complex organic substances that regulate and control many biological processes in living organisms, such as growth, development, and reproduction. They are secreted by glands and cells. Some examples of hormones and their functions include testosterone, thyroid etc.,
Persistent Weakness
Persistent weakness, a sensation of continual fatigue or diminished strength, can significantly affect an individual’s quality of life. While there can be many causes of persistent weakness, it’s crucial to consider the endocrine system, which governs a wide group of the body’s functions through the hormones it produces. When these hormones are out of balance due to an endocrine disorder, it can lead to various symptoms, including persistent weakness. In other words persistent weakness is a prolonged feeling of fatigue, lack of energy, or decreased physical strength. It can be related to the endocrine system in several ways. An imbalance in these hormones can disrupt these processes and lead to persistent weakness.
Several endocrine disorders can lead to persistent weakness. Conditions such as hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), Addison’s disease (insufficient adrenal hormones), and diabetes (improper insulin regulation) can all result in weakness and fatigue and aliments to the other endocrine glands.
Muscle weakness that is slowly getting worse needs to be checked by a doctor. Sudden muscle weakness and loss of function in one area of the body also need to be checked by a specialist right away. It can be a sign of a stroke. A stroke happens when there is a loss of blood flow to part of the brain. Brain cells cannot get the oxygen and nutrients they need from blood, and they start to die within a few minutes. This can cause lasting brain damage, long-term disability, or even death or of a problem with the spinal cord, the spinal cord is a column of nerve tissue that runs from the base of the brain to the lower back and is part of the central nervous system (CNS) along with the brain or a nerve. Measures to be taken to overcome persistent weakness will be discussed in the coming week. (To be concluded).