Presumably, everyone has had the experience of physical and mental exhaustion in daily life, sometimes after working long hours and staying up late to work overtime, sometimes when the mood is extremely low.
However, fatigue caused by psychological factors and physical or mental activity can be effectively relieved after proper rest, and when you wake up the next day, it is another day of energy.
Cancer patients are different, in mainland clinical practice, nearly 90% of patients will experience physical exhaustion.
Once this fatigue appears, it shows a trend of progressive development, even after a long period of rest, it can not eliminate fatigue, and then gradually develop into general weakness, mental fatigue, long periods of bed rest.
So the question is, cancer is obviously a tumor disease, why does it cause patient fatigue?
1, cancer consumption: cancer cells are actually the product of the body's healthy cells DNA mutation, although they have escaped cell regulation and immunity, but in essence, they are still part of the body's cells.
The monoclonal proliferation and division growth of cancer cells actually require a full supply of nutrients, the more cancer enters the metastasis and infiltration period, the greater the nutrient consumption caused, and healthy cells lack nutrient supply, and the body naturally appears tired;
2, treatment impact: cancer treatment, most of the treatment is actually a double-edged sword, such as surgery will cause wounds, radiotherapy and chemotherapy will produce side effects.
Especially in patients undergoing chemotherapy, chemical drugs can kill cancer cells and also cause damage to healthy cells.
Moreover, chemotherapy can also lead to gastrointestinal side effects, such as patients will have nausea, vomiting and other symptoms, several courses of chemotherapy, it is likely to cause malnutrition, leading to fatigue;
3. Hypoproteinemia: this is a symptomatic reaction caused by insufficient protein intake or malabsorption, and its appearance is related to the loss of appetite and anorexia caused by various reasons.
When protein is severely deficient, negative nitrogen balance increases subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle consumption, and patients become increasingly emaciated, malnourished, fatigued, and other symptoms.
According to the current clinical data, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, etc., can be combined with hypoproteinemia;
4. Anemia: In the process of receiving chemotherapy, cancer patients often have symptoms of bone marrow suppression, and a large number of healthy red blood cells may be damaged.
In addition, bone metastasis of cancer cells, infection secondary to immunosuppression, cancer with poor nutrient malabsorption, may cause anemia to appear, it is also one of the manifestations of cachexia, patients can appear fatigue, dizziness and other symptoms;
5. Cancer pain: One of the most typical symptoms of cancer is "cancer pain", which comes from many aspects of the tumor itself and the treatment process.
Nearly 90% of cancer patients develop chronic or severe pain during the course of the disease, and because the pain affects physical activity, normal sleep and diet, resulting in physical exhaustion.
All in all, cancer causes patients to be physically exhausted, which is related to many factors, of which the biggest impact is cancer consumption and cachexia, treatment impact and other aspects.
When patients experience progressive fatigue and fatigue, they should consult a doctor in time and make adjustments according to the doctor's recommendations, such as improving diet, ensuring adequate sleep, medication treatment, and so on.