In such cases, depressive, anxiety, or somatoform disorders are commonly present and can be effectively treated. These papers are intended to serve as an introduction and a stimulus to the field of symptoms research. Some topics are noticeably absent. For example, chest pain has been the subject of superb clinical studies, although these have enlightened us more about cardiac than noncardiac causes. We have not reviewed the extensive literature on pain.
Clinical studies predominate over the basic sciences.
Both are desperately needed, along with collaboration with social scientists, to populate the frontiers of symptoms research. This preface concludes where it began with the experience of headache. Author and Article Information Drs. Financial support for this supplement was provided by the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality small conference grant, the Department of Veterans Affairs Research Service, and Aetna U.S. Healthcare. Publication of the proceedings was supported by the Regenstrief Institute.