The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2010 – 2011 season was barely underway when its new music director, Maestro Riccardo Muti, headed back to Italy to see his physicians in Milan because of what was described as gastric distress. Muti’s ultimate diagnosis? Exhaustion and doctor’s orders to spend a month relaxing along Italy’s Adriatic Sea.
Non-celebrities frequently suffer from exhaustion due to lengthy periods of physical stress and a lack of sleep – symptoms that should not be ignored although the condition may not be compatible with the American work ethic. “Exhaustion is real on many levels, but it’s not part of our medical lexicon,” said Dr. John Stracks, a mind-body specialist who treats chronic pain at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine. “So when you hear about Muti (being prescribed rest), it seems like a spoof, which speaks to how jaded and hard-driving we are these days.” Dr. Eve Van Cauter, a sleep researcher and professor at the University of Chicago Medical School, agrees, noting that Americans sleep less and work longer hours than people in other industrialized nations.
“Your mood and your gut function are intimately tied together,” said Dr. Gerard Mullin, a gastroenterologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. People under stress can have their “flight or fight” response cause an adrenaline surge that can impact food and digestive enzymes, resulting in reflux, heartburn or other abdominal problems. Exhaustion also can be caused by an undiagnosed illness, such as cancer, low thyroid, anemia or other metabolic abnormalities. Prescription drugs also can factor in, particularly beta blockers, muscle relaxants and mood stabilizers.
Although the World Health Organization recognizes medical exhaustion resulting from heat, pregnancy, too much exertion, combat, malaise and other conditions, the United States government has not assigned it a diagnostic code.
The H1N1 flu pandemic is officially at an end, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The announcement came months after many nations canceled vaccine orders and shut down telephone hotlines as the illness disappeared from the headlines. Margaret Chan, the WHO’s director, said that the pandemic had “largely run its course” and that the phase six alert – the highest influenza level – is officially at an end. “I fully agree with the committee’s advice,” Chan said. At present, the virus is in the “post-pandemic” phase, meaning disease activity has returned to levels normally seen for seasonal flu bugs.
Of the world’s 193 recognized sovereign states, only Poland refused the H1N1 vaccine
Today, 
s car companies, banks and mortgage companies. Republicans believe that the last thing the American people want is government telling them when and where – or even whether – they can get medical treatment for their families.” “Hillarycare” refers to former President Bill Clinton’s failed attempt at reforming healthcare during the 1990s, an effort led by his wife, Hillary Clinton.
