Being tired or fatigued is common. Sometimes, however, it can be a sign of a health issue

AKIPRESS.COM - Feeling tired or fatigued is a common experience. Yet health-care providers often dismiss complaints about tiredness - both because the symptom is universal and because it can be challenging to evaluate medically, says Michael Grandner, director of the University of Arizona's Sleep & Health Research Program in Tucson. And while tiredness is often temporary, treatable or nothing to worry about, experts say that tiredness that suddenly worsens or prevents you from doing what you want can be a sign of a health problem or sleep disorder, New Zealand Herald reports.
"Sleep seems to be a canary in the coal mine, where it's sensitive to all these things going on in your body," Grandner says. "So, when it starts changing, you want to ask, 'Well, what's going on?' "
Sleepiness, fatigue, tiredness: in conversation, people use the terms interchangeably. But medically, their definitions differ. Understanding the differences is an important first step toward tackling the problem - or figuring out if there is one.