Vasenina, E E, Gankina, O A, Levin, O S · Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 2022 · DOI
This article examines how extreme tiredness (asthenia) relates to ME/CFS and other conditions affecting mood and thinking. The authors explain that severe fatigue can start as the body's warning signal that energy is running out, but it can develop into a serious, disabling disease on its own. They discuss how fatigue often occurs together with depression, anxiety, and problems with memory or concentration, which can make it harder for doctors to figure out what's really causing a patient's symptoms.
This article validates an important clinical reality for ME/CFS patients: the condition often coexists with cognitive and mood problems, and recognizing these connections helps doctors avoid misdiagnosis. Understanding asthenia as potentially progressing to immune-mediated CFS supports the biological basis of the disease rather than dismissing symptoms as purely psychological.
This editorial does not provide new experimental evidence, clinical trial data, or epidemiological statistics to support its claims. It does not establish causation between stress, asthenia, and CFS—only that these conditions often occur together. The work is a narrative synthesis of existing knowledge, not a primary research study with original data.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.