Fibromyalgia Through the Centuries: How Fibromyalgia Has Evolved

As many may know, fibromyalgia is a disorder affecting soft tissues and the muscles that is typically accompanied by fatigue and pervasive pain throughout the musculoskeletal system. The disorder is characterized by frequent mood changes, restless sleep and issues with memory. What many may not know is that this disease has only just been considered a neuromuscular disease, and over the years, fibromyalgia has been identified but never fully expanded upon. Many wonder how did this disease come to be? And, why hasn't fibromyalgia been at the forefront of research until recent years?

First, let's get into what exactly fibromyalgia means. The term comes from three Latin and Greek words, which are the Latin word Fibra and the Greek words Myos and Algos. Fibra means fibrous tissues, Myos means muscles, and Algos means pain.

Still, many doctors are unsure about what really causes this disorder, however, it is likely a combination of several factors acting together. These factors can include genetics, infections and physical or emotional trauma that someone has experienced. In addition, there are some risk factors involving this disorder that include gender, family history, and other disorders.

The following timeline shows some significant events in history that started with the initial findings of the disorder. It also lends some information about how the diagnosis and treatment processes evolved into modern day medicine. 

180 AD

Surprisingly, the symptoms of the disease were already noted down as early as 180 AD. During this time, a Greek anatomist and physician Galen attributed the symptoms to rheuma, which a later interpretation of the findings of Galen indicated that rheuma stands for a “great fluxion” that moves to different parts of the body.

1592

By 1592, the term rheumatism was created by a French doctor named Guillaume de Baillou in order to characterize joint and muscle pain that could not be attributed to any physical injury. This would later lead to fibromyalgia being classified with certain disease like rheumatoid arthritis in the future.

18th Century

In the 18th century, doctors started to distinguish joint rheumatism from muscular rheumatism. They found that joint rheumatism came with signs of deformity while muscular rheumatism was a non-deforming yet painful musculoskeletal disorder.

1815

By 1815, William Balfour described the pressure points used in diagnosing the disease. These tender points, as described by the Scottish surgeon, are now widely accepted in the medical world. Balfour also saw noted nodules on connective tissues during surgeries, and this allowed him to discover fibromyalgia (although under a different name), which was a disease affecting the connective tissue.

The idea of trigger points was first floated by François Louis Isidore Valleix, a French pediatrician. The idea indicated that the proximity of these points to specific nerves (later called Valleix points) shows the connection between muscular rheumatism and the nervous system. This pointed to the finding that these tender points are often a part of a neurological disease.