Historical Background on the Study of Fibromyalgia Syndrome
Authors: Galvez-Sánchez Carmen M , Reyes del Paso Gustavo 
Published: June 2020

Pain has a multidimensional nature in which three dimensions are usually differentiated: the sensory-discriminative, the emotional-affective and the cognitive-evaluative. Based on the duration, it is possible to distinguish between acute pain, when it is present for a period lower than 6 months; or chronic pain, if pain is present more than 6 months. Fibromyalgia Syndrome is a complex chronic pain disorder in which widespread and persistent musculoskeletal pain is accompanied by different symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, morning stiffness, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairments. Fibromyalgia began to be studied from the 16th century and it received different names during its historical development. The main landmarks in the development of fibromyalgia term include -among others- when the French physician Guillaume de Baillou in 1642 provided the first description of the disease using the term &ldquo;muscular rheumatism&rdquo;. The British neurologist W.R. Gowers in 1904 coined the term &ldquo;fibrositis&rdquo; in an article on lumbago. In 1944, F. Elliot suggested that the pain experimented by fibromyalgia patients might involve the spinal cord and thalamus. In 1968, E.F. Traut stated the first near-modern description of fibromyalgia with systemic features. In 1976, the term fibromyalgia was coined by P.K. Hench as a form of non-articular rheumatism based on the absence of specific inflammatory damage. In 1977, H.A. Smythe and H. Moldofsky continued the work of P.K. Hench and proposed the first measure for evaluating fibromyalgia. Nevertheless, it was not until 1981 that the medical community accepted this disease under the term "fibrositis" or &ldquo;fibromyalgia&rdquo; thanks to the work of Yunus et al. The distinction between primary and secondary fibromyalgia disappeared sometime later. During the 1980s, different authors suggested other formal and ad-hoc criteria sets. In 1987, the American Medical Association accepted fibromyalgia as a real disease. Shortly thereafter and as a result of this recognition, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) created a committee to establish the diagnostic criteria for this disorder. The first official diagnostic criteria were proposed in 1990 by the ACR. In 1994, fibromyalgia was also recognized by the International Association for the Study of Pain. During the 1990s, there was an increase in fibromyalgia research. In 2010, the ACR proposed a new version of the diagnostic criteria based exclusively on the use of the Widespread Pain Index and the Symptom Severity Scale. In addition, other two subsequent diagnostic proposals were performed. In 2011, Wolfe et al. revised and modified the 2010 ACR diagnostic criteria to facilitate its use in epidemiological or community studies, but not for self-diagnosis in the clinical context. In 2016, ACR criteria were proposed to combine the 2010 and 2011 ACR criteria into a single set to overcome the previous limitations. Definitely, fibromyalgia involves high personal, family and financial costs. Fibromyalgia also implies high economic costs for the socio-health system. Fibromyalgia notably reduces perceived functioning in physical, psychological, and social spheres, and has a negative impact on personal relationships, parenting, work, daily activities, mental health and social relationships.