Most people don't consider daytime tiredness to be a major issue. However, if your tiredness is continuous and hampers you from doing important daily tasks, it's best to visit the doctor. There are many potential culprits of your tiredness. For example, you may be sleep-deprived due to an underlying condition like sleep apnea or narcolepsy. A specialist can help identify the proper cause of your problem and how to manage it.
Keep on reading to discover the four most common causes of why you feel tired all the time.
1. Anemia
Anemia is a common blood disorder in which your body lacks red blood cells. It's also one of the main culprits of constant tiredness. Other symptoms of anemia include arrhythmia, pale skin, headaches, shortness of breath, chest pain, and light-headiness. Any process that negatively affects your body's production and destruction of red blood cells can result in anemia. Such processes include lack of stimulation by the hormone erythropoietin, hypothyroidism, uterine bleeding, menstruation, endometriosis, and childbirth.
Anemia can also occur due to inadequate dietary consumption of iron, folate, and vitamin B-12. Your doctor can diagnose anemia by looking through your family's health history and performing several tests including a CBC blood test, stool test, and serum iron test. Depending on the cause, anemia can be treated with nutritional supplements, dietary changes, and blood transfusion.
2. Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that develops when your breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. This disorder leads to loud snoring and a lack of oxygen throughout your body. The abnormal breathing means you wake up often in the night and feel tired during the day. Sleep apnea can occur in any person regardless of sex and age. However, men are more prone to this condition. Things like large neck size, large tonsils, a small jawbone, and obesity can put you at higher risk of experiencing sleep-disordered breathing.
Sleep apnea causes include genetics, thyroid dysfunction, nasal congestion, and fat accumulation along the airways. If untreated, this condition may lead to hypertension, heart failure, stroke, and depression. Treatment typically includes lifestyle changes like weight loss and the use of breathing assistance devices while sleeping.
3. Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is a common disorder that hampers your thyroid gland from producing enough thyroid hormone (thyroxine). Lack of this hormone will make you feel tired because it controls your body's energy and metabolism. Other symptoms of the underactive thyroid gland include constipation, slow heart rate, sudden weight gain, and dry skin. The most common causes of hypothyroidism are Hashimoto's thyroiditis, radiation therapy, lack of iodine in the diet, and hypothalamic diseases. There are two methods to identify if you have hyperthyroidism, a physical exam and blood tests. Hyperthyroidism is a lifelong condition, but it can be managed with synthetic thyroid hormones, exercise, and dietary changes.
4. Coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is an immune reaction to gluten, a protein found in certain cereal grains. In coeliac disease, eating gluten can damage your small intestine, preventing you from absorbing nutrients. This may lead to a wide range of symptoms including iron deficiency, diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, and constant tiredness. Long-term consequences of the inability to take in nutrients include short stature, delayed puberty, learning disabilities, and damage to tooth enamel.
The precise causes of this disease are unknown, but specialists highlight viral infections and gut bacteria as the main culprits. If you have diabetes, thyroid disease, or a family member who suffers from celiac disease, you're more likely to develop this condition. The main treatment for coeliac disease is a gluten-free diet that can help reduce symptoms and stimulate intestinal healing.
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