Asthenia

Asthenia
ICD-10	R53
ICD-9	780.7

Template:Search infobox Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Asthenia (Greek: ασθένεια, lit. lack of strength but also disease) is a medical term denoting a feeling of weakness without actual loss of strength.

Causes of asthenia

The condition is commonly seen in patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep disorders or chronic disorders of the heart, lungs or kidneys. Differentiating between asthenia and true muscular weakness is often difficult, and in time asthenia in chronic disorders is seen to progress into a primary weakness. Also a condition in which the body lacks 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 fatiguability.

Common causes of asthenia

• Addison's disease
• Anemia
• Anxiety
• Chemotherapy
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic pain
• Deconditioning / sedentary lifestyle
• Dehydration and electrolyte disturbance
• Drugs- Metformin, Paroxetine
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Fibromyalgia
• Heart disease
• Hypothyroidism
• Infections
• Medications including amiodarone, conjugated estrogen, caspofungin acetate
• Narcotics
• Paraneoplastic syndrome
• Pregnancy/postpartum
• Pulmonary disease
• Renal disease
• Sleep disorders

See also

• Neurasthenia
• Myasthenia gravis

References

• Adapted from: Hinshaw DB, Carnahan JM, Johnson DL. Depression, anxiety, and asthenia in advanced illness. J Am Coll Surg 2002;195:276.