Recognize fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue syndrome as physical, not mental, illnesses. Fund research.

The debate has raged, ever since Chronic Fatigue Syndrome got nicknamed "Yuppie Flu" in the 1980s, over whether this is psychologic or physical. The same is true of fibromyalgia. Both illnesses have actually been around for well over 100 years, though under different names (this is not uncommon in medicine). They were, however, relatively rare until the mid to late 1980s, when cases took a sudden uptick in frequency, with "hot spots" where there were clusters of cases. The disease is now diagnosed based on symptoms & excluding other possible causes. We need research into the disease that will result in physical tests for diagnosis as well as treatments & hopefully a cure. Calling this a mental illness is a disservice to patients. Refusing to deal with it will destroy our economy.