Doctors have identified 6 causes of chronic fatigue: how to improve your condition

You wake up in the morning after eight hours of uninterrupted sleep and still feel tired. A survey conducted in the UK shows that one in eight people feel tired all the time, and one in four suffer from it most of the time.

Mail Online claims that there is a whole list of reasons that can lead to such an unpleasant state. Here are six of the main ones.

You snore

People who live alone may not even know that they snore in their sleep. Meanwhile, the number of snorers among adults is approximately 40%. One in ten of them suffers from sleep apnoea. This is a condition where the walls of the throat relax so much during snoring that the airways narrow and airflow is cut off. The risk of sleep apnoea is higher among obese people, as well as those who sleep on their backs, smoke, or like to drink a drink before bed.

When an apnoea attack blocks the airways, the brain begins to suffer from oxygen deprivation and wakes the body from deep sleep so that the airways return to normal tone and air can flow into the lungs again. That is why a person with sleep apnoea wakes up exhausted in the morning due to disruption of normal sleep cycles.

If you know that you are prone to such sleep apnoea, be sure to consult a doctor. Apnoea is a rather dangerous condition that is associated with other diseases, such as high blood pressure or even cancer (although it is not fully understood what can be the cause and what can be the effect). One way or another, there are now techniques that can at least alleviate the negative effects of apnoea.

You abuse caffeine

The substance found in coffee and tea that helps you wake up in the morning can also deprive you of a good night's sleep. A 2013 study showed that people who consumed any energy drinks six hours before bedtime slept an hour less. And this was among those who did not complain of sleep problems - these subjects slept for 6 to 8 hours and fell asleep no more than 30 minutes after getting into bed.

Another study, this time from 2015, demonstrated that caffeine can disrupt circadian rhythms - disrupting the body's internal clock. In particular, in the people who took part in this study, it "delayed" it by 40 minutes.

What's important to know about caffeine is that it can stay in the body for up to 10 hours. That is, if you plan to fall asleep around 10 pm, you should stop drinking it at 12 pm. In addition, drinking caffeinated beverages with artificial sweeteners can cause a sharp drop in blood glucose levels, known as reactive hypoglycaemia, and one of its symptoms can be sleep disturbance.

You drink too little water

When specialists at Cornell University Medical Centre in New York decided to find out how many Americans suffer from chronic dehydration in the medical sense of the word, they found that 73% of their patients experienced this problem. Meanwhile, a sufficient level of fluid in the body is essential for normal brain function and, consequently, a cheerful state of mind. Studies show that insufficient hydration has a negative impact on cognitive function, attention, reaction time and, yes, it can make you feel tired.

On average, women need to drink 1.6 litres of fluid per day, while men need 2 litres. Fluids mean tea and coffee, juices, milk, and various other drinks, but doctors insist that the best option is pure still water.

You don't know you have diabetes

It is estimated that almost 850,000 people in the UK do not know they have type 2 diabetes. It is reliably known that a similar problem exists in the United States. Meanwhile, too high or low blood sugar levels caused by insulin insensitivity are one of the most common causes of sleep disturbances. Prediabetes also negatively affects the quality of nighttime rest.

Experts say that the link between type 2 diabetes and sleep disorders is a vicious circle. Insomnia can be not only a sign of the disease, but also its cause. Lack of sleep can increase insulin resistance, as well as levels of the stress hormone cortisol and inflammation in the body. And insulin resistance makes sleep even worse. Therefore, those who suffer from a constant feeling of fatigue and lack of sleep are advised to have a blood sugar test. This is especially true if the sleep disturbance is accompanied by thirst, unexplained weight loss, frequent nighttime trips to the toilet, blurred vision, and prolonged healing of wounds and scratches.

You eat little red meat

Many people have already declared this product to be almost an enemy of health, and here's a twist. In fact, red meat, along with dark green vegetables and legumes, is one of the richest sources of iron in food. And iron is the main component of haemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that helps carry oxygen to all cells in the body.

A lack of haemoglobin causes anaemia, which leads to a feeling of exhaustion, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat. But even a decrease in iron levels, which is not clinical anaemia, can provoke one of its main symptoms - constant fatigue. Scientists from the University of Manitoba in Canada have found that iron supplements can help fight this condition. But they should be prescribed by a doctor. However, you can enrich your diet with foods rich in this microelement on your own. The main thing is that they should become a harmonious part of a healthy diet.

You have hypothyroidism

In addition to low iron levels, sleep problems can also be caused by low levels of the hormone thyroxine, which is produced by the thyroid gland. It regulates metabolic processes in the body, and its deficiency slows them down, including brain function, and provokes low mood and fatigue.

An endocrinologist can diagnose hypothyroidism with a simple blood test. However, dieting won't help and you will have to take thyroxine drugs.

As OBOZREVATEL wrote, certain foods and eating habits can also cause an unexpected feeling of fatigue.