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Updated: Jun 9, 2025
09:25
The Treadmill Fatigue Test: A Simple, High-throughput Assay of Fatigue-like Behavior for the Mouse
Published on: May 31, 2016
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[Fatigue].
Peter Lucassen1, Sonja van Ockenburg2, Rijk Gans2
1Research Institute of Health Sciences, afd. Eerstelijnsgeneeskunde, Nijmegen.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde
|October 23, 2024
Summary
Many fatigue cases remain unexplained by general practitioners. For persistent fatigue, further investigation including genetic history, blood tests, sleep studies, and specialist referral is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
Area of Science:
- General Practice
- Internal Medicine
- Medical Diagnostics
Context:
- Fatigue is a common but often unexplained symptom presenting to general practitioners.
- Only about a quarter of fatigue cases have identified somatic or psychosocial causes.
- A significant majority of patients experience unexplained fatigue, leading to diagnostic challenges.
Purpose:
- To outline diagnostic strategies for unexplained fatigue in primary care.
- To emphasize the importance of thorough physical examination and expanded inquiries for prolonged fatigue.
- To guide general practitioners on when and how to refer patients for specialized evaluation.
Summary:
- General practitioners often face unexplained fatigue, with somatic causes in 8% and psychosocial in 16% of consulted patients.
- Thorough physical examination is essential, even with low somatic prevalence.
- For fatigue exceeding 6 months, expanded history (hereditary diseases), comprehensive blood tests, sleep investigations, and specialist referral are recommended.
Impact:
- Improved diagnostic yield for complex fatigue cases.
- Enhanced patient management through timely specialist consultation.
- Better understanding of prognosis and treatment options for chronic fatigue, including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
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