Everyone gets tired. This is a universal sensation that is expected to occur at certain times of the day or after certain types of activities. Tiredness usually has an identifiable cause, is short-lived and is easily dissipated by a good night's sleep or rest. In contrast, the fatigue experienced by people with cancer is often described as an unusual or excessive whole-body tiredness that is unrelated or disproportionate to exertion and that is not easily dispelled by sleep or rest.
Fatigue may be short-term (acute), lasting less than one month. Or it may be more long-term (chronic), lasting any where from one month to six months or longer. Whether acute or chronic, fatigue can have a profound negative impact on the quality of life. Fatigue interferes with the ability to perform the kinds of activities and roles that give meaning and value to life. So fewer activities are undertaken and those that are undertaken may require more effort and take longer to complete.
As fatigue begins to change what cancer patients can do for themselves, family members and other caregivers begin to assume many of the roles patients used to perform themselves. These increased demands can lead to fatigue in family members and to social isolation for both patients and their families.
What Causes Fatigue No one knows exactly why people with cancer and other chronic illnesses experience this unusual fatigue. Age, sex and genetic, socio-economic and environmental factors have been implicated in fatigue, but many other factors involved in both the disease and its treatment may also contribute.
