Multiple Myeloma Fatigue: A Brief Overview of Disease- and Treatment-Related Tiredness (https://www.myeloma.org/videos/multiple-myeloma-fatigue-brief-overview-disease-treatment-related-tiredness)
Multiple Myeloma Fatigue: A Brief Overview of Disease- and Treatment-Related Tiredness
Multiple myeloma fatigue doesn’t have to rule your life. In under 1 minute, Dr. Joseph Mikhael, Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, shares a brief overview of fatigue related to multiple myeloma.
How can multiple myeloma patients manage their fatigue or feeling of tiredness? Hi everyone. Dr. Joseph Mikhael here, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, and I'm going to talk to you a little bit about fatigue in myeloma in less than a minute.
Fatigue is really part of the myeloma journey. There's so many different causes of fatigue in a myeloma patient. The disease itself, the lack of sleep, often from the treatments that we give, a change in diet, change in exercise, the psychological stress of myeloma can itself cause significant fatigue in a patient's journey. It's very important that our patients look at this as a comprehensive problem that can indeed be addressed in multiple ways. That we can manage the disease better, that we can exercise more, that we can manage our diets, and indeed find ways to address the stress that we face with multiple myeloma.
Although fatigue is a part of multiple myeloma, it doesn't have to be crippling for you in your journey, and we trust that with the right support and with the right resources, you can manage fatigue and enjoy your quality of life with multiple myeloma.
For more information or if you have questions for yourself or a loved one about multiple myeloma, please reach out to us at myeloma.org.
Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, FASCO
International Myeloma Foundation Medical Advisor
TGen, City of Hope Cancer Center—Phoenix, AZ, USA
Dr Mikhael is a Professor in the Clinical Genomics and Therapeutics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the Director of Myeloma research at the HonorHealth Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr Mikhael specializes clinically in plasma cell disorders, namely multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. He is the PI of many clinical trials, primarily in relapsed multiple myeloma, and his other clinical research interests include pharmaco-economics, communication skills, and media relations.
Dr. Mikhael recently served as the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) from 2018 to 2026 – he now serves as Medical Advisor to the IMF to provide guidance and strategic input in areas such as patient education, health disparities, collaboration with partners, international research, and publications.
Dr Mikhael has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in these fields and lectures internationally on a regular basis. Dr. Mikhael is deeply committed to health disparities in myeloma and is the chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council at TGen. Dr. Mikhael is heavily involved in training future researchers and mentors junior faculty worldwide. Dr. Mikhael is an active member of the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) and recently led the ASCO guidelines in myeloma. Dr. Mikhael also serves as the Treasurer on the executive of the American Society of Hematology.
Dr. Mikhael did his medical training in Canada, including a fellowship in Multiple Myeloma at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. He also obtained his master’s degree in education from the University of Toronto. He then worked at the Mayo Clinic Arizona as a Hematologist from 2008-2018.