Most of the time fatigue can be traced to one or more of your habits or routines, particularly lack of exercise. It’s also commonly related to depression. On occasion, fatigue is a symptom of other underlying conditions that require medical treatment.

Lifestyle factors

Taking an honest inventory of things that might be responsible for your fatigue is often the first step toward relief. Fatigue may be related to:

• Alcohol or drug use
• Excess physical activity
• Jet lag disorder
• Lack of physical activity
• Medications, such as antihistamines, cough medicines
• Not enough sleep
• Unhealthy eating habits

Conditions

Unrelenting exhaustion may be a sign of a condition or an effect of the drugs or therapies used to treat it, such as:

• Acute liver failure
• Anemia
• Anxiety disorders
• Cancer
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic infection or inflammation
• Chronic kidney disease
• Concussion
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) worsening of symptoms
• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Depression (major depressive disorder) or other mood disorders
• Diabetes
• Emphysema
• Fibromyalgia
• Grief
• Heart disease
• Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Medications and treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, pain drugs, heart drugs and antidepressants
• Multiple sclerosis
• Obesity
• Pain that’s persistent
• Sleep apnea
• Stress
• Traumatic brain injury

Children’s hospitals are seeing a surge in a common respiratory illness that can cause severe breathing problems for babies

RSV cases fell dramatically two years ago as the pandemic shut down schools, day cares and businesses. With restrictions easing in the summer of 2021, doctors saw an alarming increase in what is normally a fall and winter virus.

A look at RSV and what the recent surge may mean:

What is RSV?
It stands for respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of mild cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, cough and fever. Nearly all U.S. children normally catch an RSV infection by age 2.

People infected are usually contagious for three to eight days. Babies and people with weakened immune systems can spread RSV for up to four weeks. There is no vaccine for it, though several candidates are in testing.

Who does it affect?
Everyone can get RSV. But it causes the most threat to infants, older adults and other vulnerable people, who can get serious airway and lung infections.

Why is there an increase now?
The virus is encountering a highly vulnerable population of babies and children who were sheltered from common bugs during the pandemic lockdowns.

For babies, their mothers may not have been infected with RSV during pregnancy, which could have given the children some immunity.

Is there a treatment?
There’s no specific treatment, so it’s a matter of managing symptoms and letting the virus run its course. Doctors may prescribe oral steroids or an inhaler to make breathing easier.

In serious cases, patients in the hospital may get oxygen, a breathing tube or a ventilator.

What do doctors recommend?
Prevent the spread of viruses by washing hands thoroughly and staying home when you’re sick.

During RSV season, an injection of an antibody-based medicine is sometimes prescribed to protect premature infants and other very vulnerable babies.