Fibromyalgia: Disease or Syndrome?

Fibromyalgia, an illness characterized by severe muscle pain, is associated with poor sleep and often depression. It mirrors some of the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Over 70% of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia also meet the criteria for CFS; the main difference is the presence of musculoskeletal pain in fibromylagia.

In medicine, in order to qualify as a ?disease?, an illness must have unique symptoms and be distinguishable via physical exam and laboratory test results. If an illness cannot be so definitively defined and could be mistaken as another condition, it is called a syndrome. Fibromylagia (FMS) thereby qualifies as a ?syndrome?.