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History of myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome
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==Epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis (1930s-1960s) == {{Main article |page_name = Epidemic myalgic encephalomyelitis}} In 1938, [[Alexander Gilliam]] described an illness that resembled [[poliomyelitis]], interviewing patients and reviewing records of one of several clusters which had occurred in Los Angeles, United States in 1934.<ref name="Gilliam38">{{citation | last = Gilliam | first = AG | date = 1938 | title = Epidemiological study on an epidemic, diagnosed as poliomyelitis, occurring among the personnel of Los Angeles County General Hospital during the summer of 1934| work=United States Treasury Department Public Health Service Public Health Bulletin|location=Washington, DC|volume=240|pages=1β90|url=}}</ref> The [[1934 Los Angeles atypical polio outbreak|Los Angeles County Hospital outbreak]] included all or most of its nurses and doctors.<ref name="ISBN 078902196X">{{cite book | title = Medical Etiology, Assessment, and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue and Malaise| publisher = Haworth Press | date = 2004|isbn=0-7890-2196-X | pages = 6β7|oclc=|location= | last = Patarca-Montero | first = Roberto | authorlink = Roberto Patarca}}</ref> Gilliam called the outbreak "[[atypical poliomyelitis]]" and described the symptoms as: rapid muscle weakness, vasomotor instability, clonic twitches and cramps, [[ataxia]], severe pain (usually aggravated by exercise), neck and back stiffness, menstrual disturbance and dominant sensory involvement. Novices and convent candidates at a Wisconsin convent were diagnosed with "encephalitis" in 1936. Two towns in Switzerland had outbreaks of "[[abortive poliomyelitis]]" in 1937, and 73 Swiss soldiers were given the same diagnosis in 1939. Outbreaks in Iceland were called "[[1948-49 Akureyri outbreak|Akureyri disease]]" or "simulating poliomyelitis" and were later called "[[Icelandic disease|Iceland disease]]." Eight hundred people in [[1949-53 Adelaide outbreak|Adelaide, Australia]] became ill during 1949-1951 with a disease "resembling poliomyelitis." Two smaller clusters in the United States during 1950 were diagnosed as "[[Epidemic neuromyasthenia]]" and "resembling Iceland disease simulating acute anterior poliomyelitis." Additional outbreaks of poliomyelitis-like "mystery diseases" occurred from the 1950s through the 1980s, in [[Denmark]], the [[United States]], South Africa, and [[Australia]], among others.<ref name="ISBN 078902196X" /> Several outbreaks of a polio-resembling illness occurred in Britain in the 1950s.<ref name="Ramsay-RF">{{cite book | title = Postviral Fatigue Syndrome. The saga of Royal Free disease | last = Ramsay| publisher = Gower | date = 1986|isbn=0-906923-96-4|location=London | first = A. Melvin|pages= | author-link = Melvin Ramsay}}</ref> A [[1955 Royal Free Hospital outbreak|1955 outbreak at the Royal Free Hospital Group]] was later called ''Royal Free disease'' or ''benign myalgic encephalomyelitis''.<ref name="pmid13472002">{{cite journal | date = 1957 | last = ((The Medical Staff Of The Royal Free Hospital)) | first = | title = An outbreak of encephalomyelitis in the Royal Free Hospital Group, London, in 1955|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=5050 | pages = 895β904|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.5050.895|pmc=1962472|pmid=13472002}}</ref><ref name="MyalgicEncephalomyelitis-first-named" /> After the Royal Free Hospital outbreak, a disorder with similar symptoms was found among the general population and the epidemic form came to be considered the exception.<ref name="Wojcik2011">{{Cite journal | last = Wojcik | first = Wojtek | authorlink = | last2 = Armstrong | first2 = David | authorlink2 = | last3 = Kanaan | first3 = Richard | authorlink3 = | date = June 2011 | title = Chronic fatigue syndrome: labels, meanings and consequences | url = http://www.academia.edu/download/44620045/Is_chronic_fatigue_syndrome_a_neurologic20160411-5977-7911gv.pdf | journal=Journal of Psychosomatic Research|volume=70|issue=6 | pages = 500β504|doi=10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.02.002|issn=1879-1360|pmid=21624573|quote=|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last = Dawson | first = J | author-link = | date = 1987-02-07 | title = Royal Free disease: perplexity continues. | url = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1245346|journal=British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.)|volume=294|issue=6568 | pages = 327β328|issn=0267-0623|pmc=1245346|pmid=3028544|quote=|via=}}</ref> Pathology findings, from both monkeys intentionally infected with biological fluids from patients<ref>{{cite journal | date = Sep 1955 | title = Further investigations on a disease resembling poliomyelitis seen in Adelaide|journal=Med. J. Aust.|volume=2|issue=13 | pages = 480β2 | last = Pellew | first = RA | last2 = Miles | first2 = JA|quote= | url = https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13272481|pmid=13272481|via=}}</ref> and from rare human casualties,<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Wallis | first = AL | date = 1957 | title = An investigation into an unusual illness seen in epidemic and sporadic form in a general practice in Cumberland in 1955 and subsequent years|format=M.D. Thesis | url = https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/9382/Wallis1957_FULL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|journal=University of Edinburgh|issue=|pages=|quote=|via=|volume=}}</ref> led to the conclusion that the disorder was caused by [[inflammation]] of the brain and the [[spinal cord]], particularly the afferent nerve roots, perhaps with [[neuroimmune disease]] etiology.<ref name="Richardson2002">{{cite journal | last = Richardson | first = J | date = 2002 | title = Myalgic encephalomyelitis: guidelines for doctors | url = http://me-ireland.com/richardson.pdf | journal=Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome|volume=10|issue=1 | pages = 65β80|doi=10.1300/j092v10n01_06|quote= | author-link = John Richardson|via=}}</ref>
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