Annals of Medicine

Fatigue is a common and very burdensome symptom of many chronic conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, and even neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury. It typically manifests in different dimensions, patterns, and temporal courses, and can persist for months or even years. Its pathophysiology is not yet well understood as it seems to be heterogenous and depending on a variety of factors such as, e.g., inflammatory dysregulations, depression and anxiety, or lack of physical activity.

Fatigue experienced by individuals with chronic conditions and diseases needs to be delineated from the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), Fibromyalgia, and likely also from long-covid fatigue, which are more likely to be sequelae of viral infections.

Generally, fatigue is often insufficiently recognized and treated. A better understanding of causes, mechanisms, patterns, and effective management and treatment options is urgently needed to reduce patients' burden and improve their quality of life.

The goal of this Article Collection is to consolidate knowledge about fatigue from different areas. We invite contributions on a broad range of topics regarding fatigue in individuals with/after cancer, inflammatory diseases, neurological conditions, or trauma (but EXCLUDING CFS/ME, fibromyalgia, long-covid fatigue), including but not limited to:

• Patterns, temporal courses and determinants of fatigue
• Pathophysiology and potential subtypes of fatigue
• Screening and diagnosis of fatigue
• Effective treatments and management of fatigue
• Open needs of patients with fatigue

Annals of Medicine accepts the following types of articles:

• Research Article (systematic/meta-analysis reviews and observational studies)
• Review Article
• Clinical Trials
• Protocols
• Case Series
• Commentary

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Dr. Schmidt's research aims for a better understanding, management and treatment of cancer-related fatigue. She investigates patterns, pathophysiology, and potential subtypes of fatigue as well as ways to improve patient education, screening, and treatment for fatigue. Dr. Schmidt has initiated or is/was involved in several large longitudinal studies and randomized controlled intervention trials on cancer-related fatigue.

Dr. Martina Schmidt | Division of Physical Activity, Prevention and Cancer

Dr. Raina’s research program addresses developing assessments and interventions for individuals experiencing pain and fatigue due to chronic conditions. She has completed research examining the effectiveness of a self-management fatigue intervention for individuals with traumatic brain injury. Her most current research examines efficient methods to assess fatigue in breast cancer survivors. She is also developing an intervention for fatigue for breast cancer survivors.

Ketki D. Raina | School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

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Disclosure Statement: Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Raina declare no conflicts of interest regarding this work.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is May 30th, 2024.

When submitting your article, please select the section, 'Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation', and the Special Issue, 'Fatigue: From onset and diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation' from the drop-down menu on the submission system.

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Annals of Medicine is an online, open access, international journal publishing across all areas of medicine and is part of our Elevate Series. This means that you will receive a concierge-level publishing experience, including dedicated support from our expert in-house Editorial team, with guaranteed response times of within 48 hours, an initial decision on whether your article will be peer reviewed within 5 working days, and a first decision on your research within an average of 22 working days.

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