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Sleepiness, tiredness and fatigue are complaints which must be thoroughly analyzed to eliminate blur and ambiguity.
Physiological sleepiness (“sleep pressure”) increases while being awake and additionally underlies the circadian rhythm with a lower threshold to fall asleep during night time.
Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is considered normal only after sleep deprivation. Clinically, EDS manifests by frequents daytime napping and/or reduced alertness with automatic behavior or - in its extreme form - in recurrent attacks of sudden, uncontrollable compulsion to sleep also in inappropriate situations (= “sleep attacks”).
EDS is “objectively” addressed by measuring the mean sleep latency to four to five nap opportunities throughout the day using the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) or the maintenance of wakefulness test (MWT).
EDS denotes both, a ready entrance into sleep as well as difficulty in staying awake during daytime or accordingly in inappropriate situations. These two partially independent aspects of EDS are separately assessed by the “passive” MSLT and the “active” MWT respectively.
For that reason the MSLT and MWT only weakly correlate with each other when tested over a broad range of patients with EDS. It is important to keep in mind, that these tests are importantly influenced by a great variety of factors such as mood, anxiety, and motivation.
“Vigilance” comprises wakefulness, alertness and attention and therefore is more than just the reciprocal to sleepiness. Cognitive performance tasks such as Steer Clear Reaction Time Test (SCRTT) or driving simulators require the complete integrity of vigilance to achieve normal results. Hypersomnia is usually broadly defined as the combination of abnormally prolonged night-time sleep (regularly >10 h) with EDS during ≥1 months.
On the other hand, the term hypersomnia has also been used in a narrower scene for the isolated abnormality of a prolonged night-time sleep need (>10 h). “Tiredness”, also in colloquial language often used for sleepiness, in a broader sense also describes the feeling of lack of energy, motivation and initiative.
These patients seek rest rather than sleep. They often cannot fall asleep when given the opportunity in spite of feeling tired, and hence, in an MSLT, do not show an abnormally short sleep latency. Furthermore, tiredness (and fatigue) as opposed to sleepiness has a mental (“central”) and physiological (bodily or “peripheral”) component, which the patients can readily distinguish. Patients with insomnia, mild sleep apnea syndrome, or depression rather suffer from mental tiredness than sleepiness during the day.
The simple subjective self-assessment using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) quite reliably differentiates between sleepiness and mental tiredness (without sleepiness), which makes it a widely used test. The term “fatigue” is also heterogeneously used.
In physiology the “fatigue” implied a “time on task performance decrement” to describe decreasing muscle force during a sustained physical effort. In clinical medicine one distinguishes physical (“peripheral”) from mental (“central”) fatigue and the term usually denotes a chronic and more abnormal situation than tiredness.
In a broad sense “fatigue” implies a deficiency in coping satisfactorily with mental and physical work load. The chronic fatigue syndrome entails both mental as well as a physical fatigue (so called “leaden paralysis” of limbs). Depressive states are often associated with insomnia and fatigue, but there are also cases with hypersomnia rather than insomnia ( non organic hypersomnia , “atypical depression” or “hypersomnolent depression”)
Sometimes these patients have a tendency to spend much of the day lying in the bed without actually sleeping (so called clinophilia). The basic and clinical aspects of fatigu
A clavicle fracture is a bone fracture in the clavicle, or collarbone. It is often caused by a fall onto an outstretched upper extremity, a fall onto a shoulder, or a direct blow to the clavicle. Many research projects are underway regarding the medical healing process of clavicle fractures.
Vaginale pijn behandelen met amitriptyline creme. Vulvodynia is een groot probleem en komt (onuitgesproken) bij veel vrouwen voor. Wij hebben enkele topicale cremes ontwikkeld, waaronder een amitriptyline-palmnitoylethanolamide en een baclofen-palmitoylethanoamide creme, waar veel vrouwen veel baat bij hebben.
Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening complication of certain types of bacterial infections. Often toxic shock syndrome results from toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria, but the condition may also be caused by toxins produced by group A streptococcus (strep) bacteria. Toxic shock syndrome historically has been associated primarily with the use of superabsorbent tampons. However, since manufacturers pulled certain types of tampons off the market, the incidence of toxic shock syndrome in menstruating women has declined. Toxic shock syndrome can affect men, children and postmenopausal women. Risk factors for toxic shock syndrome include skin wounds and surgery.
A pneumothorax (noo-moe-THOR-aks) is a collapsed lung. A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse. In most cases, only a portion of the lung collapses. A pneumothorax can be caused by a blunt or penetrating chest injury, certain medical procedures, or damage from underlying lung disease. Or it may occur for no obvious reason. Symptoms usually include sudden chest pain and shortness of breath. On some occasions, a collapsed lung can be a life-threatening event. Treatment for a pneumothorax usually involves inserting a flexible tube or needle between the ribs to remove the excess air. However, a small pneumothorax may heal on its own.
A salivary gland stone -- also called salivary duct stone -- is a calcified structure that may form inside a salivary gland or duct. It can block the flow of saliva into the mouth. The majority of stones affect the submandibular glands located at the floor of the mouth. Less commonly, the stones affect the parotid glands, located on the inside of the cheeks, or the sublingual glands, which are under the tongue. Many people with the condition have multiple stones. Salivary Gland Stone Causes and Symptoms Salivary stones form when chemicals in the saliva accumulate in the duct or gland. They mostly contain calcium. The exact cause is not known. But factors contributing to less saliva production and/or thickened saliva may be risk factors for salivary stones. These factors include: dehydration, poor eating, and use of certain medications (such as antihistamines), blood pressure drugs, psychiatric drugs, and bladder control drugs. Trauma to the salivary glands may also raise the risk for salivary stones. The stones cause no symptoms as they form, but if they reach a size that blocks the duct, saliva backs up into the gland, causing pain and swelling. You may feel the pain off and on, and it may get progressively worse. Inflammation and infection within the affected gland may follow. Salivary Gland Stones Diagnosis and Treatments If you have symptoms of a salivary gland stone, your doctor will first check for stones with a physical exam. Sometimes tests may also be ordered, such as X-ray, CT scan, or ultrasound.