EVIDENCE THAT ABNORMALITIES OF CENTRAL NEUROHORMONAL SYSTEMS ARE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING FIBROMYALGIA AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

Fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) fall into the spe ctrum of what might be termed stress-associated syndromes by virtue of frequent onset after acute or chronic stressors and apparent exacerba tion of symptoms during periods of physical or emotional stress. These illnesses also share perturbation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adren al axis and sympathetic stress response systems. In this article, the authors discuss the specific neurohormonal abnormalities found in FM a nd CFS and potential mechanisms by which dysfunction of neurohormonal stress-response systems could contribute to vulnerability to stress-as sociated syndromes and to the symptoms of FM and CFS.