Hurting All Over

Patients suffering from fibromyalgia used to be told that it was all in their head. Not anymore

Fibromyalgia is a mysterious illness with a long name and a bad reputation. For years, patients who went to their doctors complaining of inexplicable pain, stiffness and fatigue were told that they were depressed or stressed out and their symptoms were psychosomatic. More recently, fibromyalgia has been linked to chronic-fatigue syndrome and the aftereffects of Lyme disease, which in some medical circles is enough to give any ailment a bad name.

But the reputation is undeserved. Fibromyalgia is a real medical syndrome that is being taken more seriously these days, thanks to a study out of the University of Alabama that...

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