Stress, Asthenia, and Cognitive Disorders 2023

[Andy]

Asthenia is a clinical syndrome that can be manifest in almost all somatic, infectious, and neurological diseases. Initially a protective mechanism indicating depletion of energy resources, asthenia can become a pathological and extremely disabling condition, and can even progress to an independent immune-mediated disease – chronic fatigue syndrome. Asthenia is often combined with affective and cognitive disorders, producing diagnostic difficulties. The article addresses the complex interweaving of asthenia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cognitive and affective disorders.

Paywall, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11055-023-01364-1

 

[Trish]

Asthenia is a word I immediately forget the meaning of.

So here are some notes from Google:

Definition:
Asthenia: Weakness; lack of energy and strength.

Is asthenia same as fatigue?
Fatigue is often related with physical and psychological symptoms. The inquiry is always difficult. Asthenia is a fatigue without or before effort.

From Encycolpedia Britannica

What causes asthenia?
asthenia, a condition in which the body lacks strength or has lost strength, either as a whole or in any of its parts. General asthenia occurs in many chronic wasting diseases, such as anemia and cancer, and is probably most marked in diseases of the adrenal gland.
Asthenia may be limited to certain organs or systems of organs, as in asthenopia, characterized by ready fatigability of vision, or in myasthenia gravis, in which there is progressive increase in the fatigability of the muscular system.
Neurocirculatory asthenia is a clinical syndrome characterized by breathing difficulties, heart palpitations, a shortness of breath or dizziness, and insomnia.
The term neurasthenia was once commonly used to describe a neurotic disorder characterized by easy fatigability, lack of motivation, and feelings of inadequacy; use of the term has been largely abandoned.

 

[Trish]

I see it's translated from Russian. It seems to be a hypothesis paper based on rather selective reading of research and some strange assumptions.

I haven't read it all, but get the general impression of some confusion, for example they describe asthenia, CFS and depression as having the same trigger - stress. They confuse the definition of CFS as including 'orthostatic hypotension' rather than 'orthostatic intolerance' as an option. In the section on treatment they list without comment variations on CBT and GET, and promote particularly a drug used in treating dementia, seeming to claim it is effective in CFS without any reference to support that.