Pharmacological studies on fatigue. I.

Considerable investigation has been done as to whether or not a particular drug is effective for recovery of an animal after it has become exhausted. Experiments have included screening antifatigue effect on animals, but applications have not been generally established. Effects of drugs on psychological fatigue as seen in man can hardly be inferred from tests on animals. Even physiological effects of some stimulants differ, depending on the cause of exhaustion (1). There is reason to believe that enforced exercise involves stress not present in spontaneous exercise (2). As psychological and physiological factors as yet remain obscure, fatigue itself is hard to define. The present paper reports attempts to determine simple pharmacological methods for screening effects of drugs on exhausted states of animals.