fatigue

This paper is based on Dr Morrison’s presentation at the St Andrews Day Festival Symposium held at the Royal College of Physicians on 29 November 2013. In this case, as discussed at the Symposium, the patient has presented with ‘tired all the time’, one of the most common complaints seen by GPs and one which can be linked to a number of physical and psychological causes. Dr Morrison assesses whether Neurology is the most appropriate place for this patient.

KEYWORDS Tiredness, fatigue, sleep, circadian rhythm, narcolepsy

Background: The aetiology of fatigue after stroke is unknown. We explored the relationship between fatigue and C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker of inflammation.

In England the Department of Health has funded specialist clinical services aimed at diagnosing and managing the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). These services are not available to those who do not fulfil the diagnostic criteria for CFS. This service evaluation examined the proportion of those referred to a specialist CFS service fulfilling the Fukuda diagnostic criteria for CFS and the alternative fatigue-associated diagnoses. The CFS database was interrogated to include every patient referred to the Newcastle service from November 2008 to December 2009.