Energy & Fatigue Archive

As men age, many factors affect their energy levels, such as declining muscle mass, unhealthy diet, poor sleep, and increased stress. Addressing these areas are some of the best ways to increase energy levels. Exercise, healthy eating, good sleep, and stress reduction can increase mood-boosting hormones, help the body produce more adenosine triphosphate (the energy-carrying molecules found in cells), and balance blood sugar levels to prevent sudden fatigue, among other benefits.

A 2022 study found that women with long COVID showed more symptoms than men, including shortness of breath and fatigue.

The signs of early heart failure, which include fatigue, shortness of breath, and swollen ankles, are often dismissed. Recent developments in both the detection and treatment of heart failure may help ease the burden of this disease. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with type 2 diabetes receive yearly blood tests for a common biomarker of heart failure. And the FDA recently expanded use of a diabetes drug proven to keep people with heart failure (even those without diabetes) out of the hospital and alive longer.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) can help diagnose unusual causes of breathlessness, such as pulmonary hypertension or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. CPET collects information about a person’s heart and lung function to assess how the body responds to exercise. It may also help doctors better understand the lingering fatigue and breathlessness that sometimes occur after a COVID-19 infection.

The condition causes leg pain and fatigue that make activity difficult, but lifestyle changes can improve how you feel.

The occasional leg pain or stiffness is often not cause for concern, but if pain or fatigue develops after just a few minutes of walking or climbing stairs, it could be an early sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

"PAD not only interferes with an active lifestyle, but also can put you at higher risk for a heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Michael Belkin, chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "You can't cure PAD once it occurs, so you want to take measures to avoid it as much as possible."

Here's how to protect yourself from this growing tick-borne disease.

Summer is the ideal time to enjoy the outdoors, but while you're interacting with nature, you need to look out for ticks that carry Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States.

About 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC, and new research suggests that number will rise by 20% by mid-century.

There are many types of yoga. One of the most popular forms practiced in the United States is known as hatha yoga, a style that focuses on maintaining specific poses. What sets yoga apart from most other exercise programs is that it places as great an emphasis on mental fitness as on physical fitness, what's known as the mind-body connection.

Studies suggest that yoga has benefits for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraines, low back pain, and many other types of chronic pain conditions. It can also improve mood, which can be helpful to people with CFS who are depressed.