The New Yorker

Abstract

In 1990, the term "fibromyalgia" formally entered the medical lexicon. It designated a condition of persistent muscle pain throughout the body, pain that is often accompanied by severe fatigue, insomnia, diarrhea and abdominal bloating, bladder irritation, and headache. Now, ten years later, nearly six million Americans are said to be suffering from fibromyalgia-more than four times as many as will develop cancer this year, and six times as many as are living with H.I.V. Ninety per cent of the afflicted are women, and the majority are Caucasian. Many cases follow a traumatic event, such as surgery, but others have no apparent cause.