Goldenberg, D L · Current opinion in rheumatology · 1991 · DOI
This review examines three related conditions—fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and myofascial pain—that often occur together and cause pain, tiredness, and sleep problems. Researchers are discovering that these conditions may share common biological causes involving how the body senses pain, hormone imbalances, and problems with muscle function. Unfortunately, the new treatments being tested at that time were not particularly effective.
This work is important because it recognizes ME/CFS as a legitimate medical condition related to fibromyalgia and myofascial pain, validating the symptom clusters patients experience. By proposing shared biological mechanisms—particularly involving pain signaling, hormones, and muscle function—it provides a framework for understanding why ME/CFS patients experience multiple concurrent symptoms and opens avenues for investigating common treatment approaches.
This editorial does not establish definitive causation for any of these conditions, nor does it prove that FM, CFS, and myofascial pain are the same disorder. The preliminary, uncontrolled pathophysiologic studies reviewed cannot confirm specific biological mechanisms. The review also does not identify effective treatments, making it unclear which interventions would help patients.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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