Prevention Australia – June – July 2017

JUNE/JULY 2017 PREVENTION 99

A thyroid disorder

One symptom of a thyroid disorder is extreme

fatigue and the condition is 10 times more

common in women than men, according to the

Australian Thyroid Foundation. Your GP can

diagnose this with a blood test. Iodine deficiency

is a common cause of thyroid disorders. Iodine-

rich foods include canned salmon, oysters and

seaweed, such as nori sheets in sushi. For more

information, visit thyroidfoundation.org.au

Depression

Exhaustion can be a physical sign of depression,

which can afect one in five Australian women

according to Beyond Blue. For more information,

visit beyondblue.org.au or talk to your GP.

Pre-diabetes and type 2

Diabetes Australia estimates two million people

are at risk, and half a million have undiagnosed

type 2 diabetes, for which tiredness is a common

symptom. Insulin is a hormone that moves blood

sugar into your cells and muscles, where it can

be used as energy. When your body becomes

less responsive to insulin (pre-diabetes and

type 2), glucose builds up in your blood and

this induces fatigue. For more information,

visit diabetesaustralia.com.au

Coeliac disease

One in 70 Australians have this auto-immune

disease, where your body reacts to gluten, a

protein found in wheat, barley and rye, which

causes an inflamed gut. This can stop you from

absorbing nutrients. Coeliac Australia reports

that 80 per cent of afected people are unaware,

Visit coeliac.org.au for more information.

Iron deiciency anaemia

Roughly one in three women is iron deficient,

which can leave you feeling lethargic. Ask your

doctor to check your iron levels. Iron-rich foods

include lean meat, eggs, leafy green vegies (such

as broccoli, spinach and silverbeet) and tofu. 

WHEN IT’S TIME TO SEEK HELP

If you ind yourself regularly feeling fatigued, it’s time to see your GP to rule out any

underlying medical cause. Here are ive disorders that commonly lead to exhaustion:

There’s a reason
you’ve been waking
up tired more often
lately. “Deep sleep
diminishes as people
age, and that’s the
stage of sleep when
your body repairs the
day’s damage and
refills your energy
stores,” says sleep
expert Param Dedhia.
Incorporating these
good habits into your
day help you get the
best restorative sleep.
■ Move more. Every
time your muscles
burn fuel, they leave
behind the chemical
adenosine, a central
nervous system
trigger that is crucial
for making you feel
tired at night and so
more likely to get
deep, restorative sleep.
■ Beware your
beverages. Cafeine
has a half-life of five
hours – five hours
after your last cup
of cofee, half the
cafeine content is still
in your system. So
avoid it after 2pm.
■ Power down.
Sleep-promoting
melatonin rises
naturally after dark,
but levels decline with
age, while light from
phones and laptops
zap it further. “Avoid
your devices within
a couple of hours of
bed,” says Dedhia.

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