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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Neurocirculatory asthenia: a reassessment using modern psychosomatic criteria.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of mental illness and to evaluate the quality of life of patients with neurocirculatory asthenia. A consecutive series of 80 patients who satisfied the diagnostic criteria developed by Kannel et al. for neurocirculatory asthenia was included in this study. Patients underwent a psychiatric diagnostic research interview and extensive psychometric evaluation, with both observer and self-rated scales for depression, anxiety, phobic symptoms, quality of life and abnormal illness behavior. In 47 patients (59%), a psychiatric diagnosis (mainly an anxiety disorder) antedated the onset of neurocirculatory asthenia, which was thus defined as secondary, also because cardiorespiratory symptoms were part of the mental symptoms. In the remaining 33 patients (41%) neurocirculatory asthenia was the primary disorder. Patients with secondary neurocirculatory asthenia reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, social phobia, abnormal illness behavior and an impaired quality of life compared with patients with primary neurocirculatory asthenia. This latter did not significantly differ in these variables (except for depression) from healthy control subjects matched for sociodemographic variables. At a 1-year follow-up, patients with primary neurocirculatory asthenia had a much better prognosis than those with secondary neurocirculatory asthenia. The results indicate the feasibility of the primary/secondary distinction based on the time of onset of mental and cardiorespiratory symptoms in neurocirculatory asthenia. Since only about one quarter of the patients were found to suffer from decreased energy and fatigue according to specified criteria, the terms neurocirculatory asthenia and effort syndrome should probably be discarded.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[A preliminary study on hemodynamic changes of the heart-asthenia syndrome].

In this paper, hemodynamic changes of 254 subjects were observed by using impedance cardiogram in a double-blind control method. The subjects were divided into 5 groups: heart-asthenia syndrome (98 cases), lung-asthenia syndrome (23 cases), spleen-asthenia syndrome (23 cases), kidney-asthenia syndrome (10 cases) and normal group (100 cases). The results showed that hemodynamic abnormalities occurred in the patients with heart-asthenia syndrome only, the changed regularities were that deficiency of both vital energy and Yin greater than deficiency of heart-Yang greater than deficiency of heart-energy greater than deficiency of heart-Yin. When stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), cardiac index (CI), stroke volume index (SVI), heather index (HI), vascular compliance (C) and ejection fraction (EF) were decreased and total peripheral resistance (TPR) and systolic time interval (STI) were increased, the signs and heart-asthenia syndrome could be found in clinical practice. In conclusion, the above parameters had certain diagnostic value for heart-asthenia syndrome and could be subjective quantitative indices for evaluating effects of treating the heart-asthenia syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Preliminary results of a study assessing asthenia and related psychological and biological phenomena in patients with advanced cancer.

Asthenia is a very common symptom of patients with advanced cancer, but its investigation is hindered by a lack of suitable validated measuring instruments. The goal of the present study was to construct and validate a questionnaire for the study of asthenia in cancer patients, as well as to establish correlations with other symptoms and physiological and biochemical parameters. A group of 31 patients with advanced cancer and a control group of 30 healthy volunteers were examined. The proposed questionnaire, based on visual analogue scales, questions with categorical answers and on the hospital anxiety and depression scale was validated by comparing results of the patient and control groups, by the test/retest method and by comparison with the evaluation of an observer. Correlation with various physiological and biochemical parameters was performed. The questionnaire distinguished well among the patients and control groups. VAS of asthenia proved quite stable over a period of 5 days. Correlations of asthenia with lack of appetite, the hospital anxiety and depression scale, weight, heart rate and serum cortisol levels could be established. No significant correlation between asthenia and various serum markers of inflammation and cytokines, including C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor, interleukin-1, and interleukin-2 receptors, could be found. The proposed questionnaire for evaluation of asthenia could be validated in a patient sample of limited size and a simplified questionnaire based on visual analogue scales is being developed for further investigations.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Life events and neurocirculatory asthenia. A controlled study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the occurrence of stressful life events in the year before the onset of neurocirculatory asthenia. DESIGN: Case-control retrospective study. SETTING: A university medical outpatient clinic. SUBJECTS: A consecutive series of 50 patients with neurocirculatory asthenia and a control group of 50 healthy subjects, matched for sociodemographic variables, were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events (a semistructured research interview covering 64 life events) was administered to patients and controls. RESULTS: Patients with neurocirculatory asthenia reported significantly more stressful life events than the control group (P < 0.05) and had significantly more of the following: exits (P < 0.05), undesirable (P < 0.05) and uncontrolled (P < 0.01) events. More events that had an objective negative impact (P < 0.001) and more independent events (P = 0.07) were also reported. Ratings of impact and independence were carried out by a blind rater who was unaware whether the event had occurred in patients or controls. CONCLUSIONS: The results are suggestive of a strong relationship between stressful life events and neurocirculatory asthenia. This is in agreement with a multifactorial model of pathogenesis in neurocirculatory asthenia and with current understanding of the extensive links of behavioral responses to stress with neurophysiological and biochemical processes.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Association between asthenia and nutritional status, lean body mass, anemia, psychological status, and tumor mass in patients with advanced breast cancer.

Sixty-four consecutive patients with advanced breast cancer were included in a study designed to determine the prevalence of asthenia and its association with other clinical features. The Asthenia Score (AS, the average of four tests designed by our group to assess asthenia) was 59 +/- 9 for patients versus 88 +/- 7 for a group of 68 normal controls (p less than 0.001). Twenty-six patients (41%) scored below the tenth percentile of normal controls and were considered asthenics. AS was correlated with depression and the general severity index of the SCL-90 R test. No association was found between AS and nutritional status, lean body mass, tumor mass, anemia, or type of treatment. We conclude that asthenia is a frequent symptom in patients with advanced breast cancer, which, in our series, showed independent correlations only with psychological distress.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Cachexia and asthenia in cancer patients.

Over the past 10 years, there have been major advances in the understanding of cancer cachexia and asthenia. These common complications of cancer are now thought to be the consequences of complex interactions between host, tumour, and psychosocial factors. Cachexia and asthenia commonly coexist, but they can occur independently of each other. Recently identified tumour-derived factors cause lipolysis and protein catabolism. Cytokines produced by the host in response to tumour presence cause metabolic abnormalities, which result in decreased protein and lipid synthesis, increased lipolysis, and anorexia. Many other factors contribute to asthenia, such as anaemia, autonomic failure, and muscular abnormalities. Future research should clarify optimum management. The way forward seems to lie in a multidimensional approach with combined therapy to manage both cancer cachexia and asthenia.

Asthenia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Asthenia--does it exist in space?

OBJECTIVE: First popularized as neurasthenia in the late 1800s by American George Beard, asthenia has been viewed by Russian psychologists and flight surgeons as a major problem that affects cosmonauts participating in long-duration space missions. However, there is some controversy about whether this syndrome exists in space; this controversy is attributable in part to the fact that it is not recognized in the current American psychiatric diagnostic system. METHODS: To address this issue empirically, we retrospectively examined the data from our 4 1/2-year, NASA-funded study of crew member and mission control interactions during the Shuttle/Mir space program. Three of the authors identified eight items of stage 1 asthenia from one of our measures, the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Scores on these items from 13 Russian and American crew members were compared with scores derived from the opinions of six Russian space experts. RESULTS: Crew members' scores in space were significantly lower than the experts' scores on seven of the eight items, and they generally were in the "not at all" to "a little" range of the item scales. There were no differences in mean scores before and after launch or across the four quarters of the missions. There were no differences in response between Russian and American crew members. CONCLUSIONS: We could not demonstrate the presence of asthenia in space as operationally defined using the POMS. However, the POMS addresses only emotional and not physiological aspects of the syndrome, and the subject responses in our study generally were skewed toward the positive end of the scales. Further research on this syndrome needs to be done and should include physiological measures and measures that are specific to asthenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Neurocirculatory asthenia and mitral valve prolapse--two unrelated entities?

Patients with neurocirculatory asthenia share common symptoms with patients having evidence of mitral valve prolapse. A link between these two conditions has been suggested but never documented. We have evaluated the prevalence of mitral valve prolapse among 42 young soldiers suffering from the neurocirculatory asthenia syndrome, using auscultation and echocardiography to detect the mitral abnormality. Four of the 42 subjects with neurocirculatory asthenia had both auscultatory and ultrasonic evidence of mitral valve prolapse. Since a similar prevalence of mitral valve prolapse has been reported among populations of presumably healthy young males or females, we conclude that mitral valve prolapse and neurocirculatory asthenia do not appear to be related.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Study of cancer-associated asthenia: foundation of the ASTHENOS group].

Asthenia in cancer patients is a highly controversial subject. A distinct definition of asthenia in medical literature is lacking as well as its prevalence and incidence. Also, no simple tools for its diagnosis are available. Moreover its etiopathogenesis is complex and multifactorial, thereby making therapeutic approaches difficult. Recently, a Spanish group has been set up for the study and treatment of asthenia in cancer patients. This paper reports on its establishment, objectives and first conclusions.

Asthenia↗
PubMed1980

Electrocardiographic characteristics of neurocirculatory asthenia during everyday activities.

We describe the electrocardiographic changes during everyday activities recorded by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in 67 patients with neurocirculatory asthenia. The findings were compared with the results of ambulatory monitoring in 33 healthy controls. We observed episodes of sinus tachycardia > 120/min unrelated to effort in 60 of the patients, 35 had frequent episodes of pronounced sinus arrhythmia, 16 showed transient ST depression, and six transient ST elevation. All these changes appeared during the patients' routine activities, without any unusual exertion and frequently at rest. Periods of sinus tachycardia and sinus arrhythmia were recorded from the patients during sleep. Cardiac arrhythmias, especially ventricular premature beats, were also much more common in those with neurocirculatory asthenia than in the control subjects. These findings indicate that ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring provides important information on the electrocardiographic characteristics of patients with neurocirculatory asthenia and helps to establish this diagnosis in obscure cases.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

[The postviral asthenia syndrome in the practice of the district therapist].

The examination of 76 patients recovering after acute respiratory viral disease for somatic and vegetative neurologic condition revealed postinfluenzal asthenia in nearly half of them. Three degrees of the asthenia severity have been recognized. A differential approach to patients with postinfluenzal asthenia helps in more accurate evaluation of the treatment required and temporary disability grade.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1995

Cachexia-anorexia-asthenia.

The National Cancer Institute (Canada) sponsored a workshop on symptom control in Banff, Alberta, in October 1993. This article reports on the workshop recommendations for research on one symptom complex, the cachexia-anorexia-asthenia syndrome. In addition to encouraging study generation, the recommendations provide a baseline for assessing the scope and strength of future Canadian research initiatives on cachexia-anorexia-asthenia.

Anorexia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Ptosis and asthenia manifesting a mitochondrial myopathy].

We report a case of mitochondrial myopathy discovered in a 55-year old woman who was being investigated for the cause of her asthenia. Physical examination showed ptosis of the upper eyelid and proximal muscle deficit. Histological examination of a muscle biopsy disclosed rare fibres with mitochondrial aggregates. Biochemical exploration of muscle tissue revealed a double enzyme deficit involving complexes I and IV of the respiratory chain. Clinical improvement was obtained after the patient was put on coenzyme Q10. We conclude that a diagnosis of mitochondrial myopathy must be considered in patients, including middle-aged adults, presenting with muscular asthenia.

Asthenia↗
PubMed2002

Depletion of mitochondrial DNA in the skeletal muscle of two cirrhotic patients with severe asthenia.

Qualitative and quantitative alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the skeletal muscle from two patients with cirrhosis and severe asthenia have been studied. The 4977 bp (mtDNA(4977)) and the 7436 bp (mtDNA(7436)) mtDNA deletions, as well as other mtDNA deletions, revealed by long extension PCR (LX-PCR), were found in the two patients, whereas the 10,422 bp (mtDNA(10,422)) mtDNA deletion was absent. Altogether, the qualitative alterations of mtDNA in cirrhotic patients with severe asthenia were comparable to those of age-matched healthy individuals. The mtDNA content, on the contrary, was substantially decreased in both patients with respect to control. Such mtDNA depletion might be explained by an increased, disease-related, oxidative damage to mtDNA, which probably affects the replication of the mitochondrial genome as already suggested in other oxidative stress-associated diseases.

Asthenia↗