Goldenberg, D L · Current opinion in rheumatology · 1994 · DOI
This 1994 review examined three related conditions—fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, and myofascial pain syndrome—that often overlap and remain poorly understood. The author noted that these conditions frequently occur alongside Lyme disease and other medical or psychiatric illnesses. New research at that time suggested that problems with how the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) processes signals might play a role in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS.
This review is historically significant as it documents the early recognition that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia may share common neurobiological mechanisms involving central nervous system dysfunction. Understanding this connection helped establish the foundation for subsequent research into neurovascular, neuroendocrine, and neuroinflammatory abnormalities in ME/CFS. The emphasis on the overlap among these syndromes remains relevant for patients who experience symptoms across multiple categories.
This editorial review does not present original experimental data or establish definitive causal mechanisms; it is a synthesis of existing literature and expert opinion. The study does not prove that central nervous system dysfunction is the primary cause of these conditions, only that it may play a role. The historical nature of this 1994 review means it does not capture subsequent advances in ME/CFS research over the past 30 years.
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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