History of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a condition that will cause constant pain in your muscles and joints. It starts out slowly and eventually can really hinder daily activities. Being sleepy, not able to stay asleep, depression and other symptoms can occur. Sometimes, it is diagnosed wrong because other illnesses have the same symptoms.

Fibromyalgia is believed to have been named around 1976. Job from the Old Testament might have suffered from fibromyalgia. It is also believed that Florence Nightingale also suffered from this disease and never really recovered. Her last days were suffered in bed with pain and tiredness.

Since the 1800s, many researchers have been studying this rare disease. It has been called many different names like muscular rheumatism and fibroitis. Fibromyalgia means pain in the fibrous muscle tissue. It was proven in the 21st century that the disease was caused by the central nervous system, which means it may one day be curable. As it is, some relief can be found for the symptoms, but there is no cure yet.

Fibromyalgia was at one time believed to have been a mental disorder. Later, doctors believed it might have been caused by swelling, but that was proven wrong too. Scotland researchers found that only certain parts of the body were affected. These parts are the hips, knees, lower back, neck and shoulders. With all the things that are supposedly the cause of fibromyalgia, it is proven that it mainly shows up in people who have a low tolerance for pain.