Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia was first described by physicians in the early 1800s, using the term, "muscular rheumatism". In the early 1820's, Scottish physicians developed the first tender points exam as diagnostic criteria for the condition. Following this diagnostic criteria, the term "Fibrositis" was coined as inflammation was believed to be the cause of pain. However, in 1976 the name of the condition was changed to reflect it's current name, Fibromyalgia, reflecting the theory that body wide swelling was not the overall cause of pain.
Fibromyalgia was first truly recognized in the 1980s. As with other "vague" systemic complaints, including multiple sclerosis and chronic Lyme disease, diagnosis of this condition has been controversial. Some medical experts wrongly believe fibromyalgia is a psychiatric condition (stemming from pre 1900s beliefs about the condition's nature), others that it is an autoimmune disease, however more research is still needed to discover a direct cause of the complex chronic pain condition.
In more recent years, The American college of Rheumatology has established a set of guidelines to help physicians diagnose fibromyalgia (1990). In 2005, the first guidelines for treating fibromyalgia was published by the American Pain Society.
Today, under the World Health Organization's International Code of Diseases, or, ICD-10, Fibromyalgia is defined as a physical disease under the heading of "Other Soft Tissue Disorders, Not Elsewhere Specified".
SNPs in the following genes may be associated with fibromyalgia:
