History of Fibromyalgia

It is believed that fibromyalgia has been around for centuries. One of the earliest cases is believed to have happened to Florence Nightingale, an English army nurse in the mid-1800’s. She was an early pioneer for the International Red Cross Movement. She came down with a mysterious illness during the Crimean War and bedridden pretty much until her death in 1910. She complained of pain and fatigue, which resembles the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Because people with fibromyalgia symptoms complain of pain in the muscles, scientists focuses their attention on looking for a cause there. But none of the conventional test methods showed anything wrong with the muscles. Then scientists focused their attention on the immune system. But nothing showed up there either.

The term fibromyalgia was first named in 1976 which literally means tissue muscle pain. It wasn’t until the 21st century that new brain imaging technology made it possible to discover that fibromyalgia is caused by a malfunction in the central nervous system. It is much easier to find a cure for something when you can know the cause.

Before fibromyalgia had a name and a known physical disorder, doctors were tempted to diagnose the disorder as a psychosomatic or psychiatric disorder. This caused a lot of frustration on the part of the patient and also the medical field. Patients were referred for evaluation at mental facilities and underwent counseling. Now, fibromyalgia patients are finding relief from such drugs as nonepinephric drugs.

Isn’t science a wonderful thing?