About Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) (Symptoms, Treatments, etc)

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There are two parts to this section. The first part deals with Fibromyalgia. The second part, with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Fibromyalgia...

Fibromyalgia, meaning muscle and connective tissue pain (also referred to as FM or FMS), is a disorder classified by the presence of chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to gentle touch (tactile allodynia). Other core features of the disorder include debilitating fatigue, sleep disturbance, and joint stiffness. In addition, persons affected by the disorder frequently experience a range of other symptoms that involve multiple body systems, including difficulty with swallowing, functional bowel and bladder abnormalities, difficulty breathing, diffuse sensations of numbness and tingling (non-dermatomal paresthesia), abnormal motor activity (i.e. nocturnal myoclonus, sleep bruxism), and cognitive dysfunction. An increased prevalence of affective and anxiety-related symptoms is also well known. While the criteria for such an entity have not yet been thoroughly developed, the recognition that fibromyalgia involves more than just pain has led to the frequent use of the term "fibromyalgia syndrome". Not all affected persons experience all the symptoms associated with the greater syndrome. Fibromyalgia is considered a controversial diagnosis, with some authors contending that the disorder is a ‘non-disease’, due in part to a lack of objective laboratory tests or medical imaging studies to confirm the diagnosis. While historically considered either a musculoskeletal disease or neuropsychiatric condition, evidence from research conducted in the last three decades has revealed abnormalities within the central nervous system affecting brain regions that may be linked both to clinical symptoms and research phenomena. Although there is as yet no generally accepted cure for fibromyalgia, there are treatments that have been demonstrated by controlled clinical trials to be effective in reducing symptoms, including medications, patient education, exercise and behavioral interventions.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia

Chronic fatigue syndrome...

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is the most common name given to a poorly understood, variably debilitating disorder or disorders of uncertain causation.

Symptoms of CFS include widespread muscle and joint pain, cognitive difficulties, chronic, often severe mental and physical exhaustion and other characteristic symptoms in a previously healthy and active person. Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but CFS is a multi-systemic disease and is relatively rare by comparison. Diagnosis requires a number of features, the most common being severe mental and physical exhaustion which is "unrelieved by rest," is worsened by exertion, and is present for at least six months. All diagnostic criteria require that the symptoms must not be caused by other medical conditions. CFS patients may report additional symptoms, including muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, hypersensitivity, orthostatic intolerance, digestive disturbances, depression, poor immune response, and cardiac and respiratory problems. It is unclear if these symptoms represent co-morbid conditions or are produced by an underlying etiology of CFS. Full resolution occurs in only 5-10% of cases.

CFS is thought to have an incidence of 4 adults per 1,000 in the United States. For unknown reasons, CFS occurs more often in women than men, and in people in their 40s and 50s. The illness is estimated to be less prevalent among children and adolescents, but studies are contradictory as to the degree. There is no medical test which is widely accepted to be diagnostic of CFS. It remains a diagnosis of exclusion based largely on patient history and symptomatic criteria, although a number of tests can aid diagnosis.

Whereas there is agreement on the genuine threat to health, happiness, and productivity posed by CFS, various physicians groups, researchers, and patient activists promote different nomenclature, diagnostic criteria, etiologic hypotheses, and treatments, resulting in controversy about many aspects of the disorder. The name CFS itself is controversial, as advocacy groups as well as some experts feel it trivializes the illness and have supported efforts to change it. Many alternative names for chronic fatigue syndrome exist.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome