Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

During the course of an obscure illness in a teenage girl it was eventually realized that the diagnosis was 'epidemic neuromyasthenia'. The illness which occurred between February and September 1976 was characterized by fatigue, pallor, headache, nuchal pain, alterations in mentation, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, paraesthesiae, weakness and heaviness of limbs, and a prolonged relapsing course. Investigation brought to light fourteen patients with similar symptoms--twelve female and two male. In view of the shortcomings of retrospective enquiries, especially those involving the assessment of notes made by other people, and the problem of trying to define a nonfatal illness with protean symptoms, many of a nonspecific nature, with few physical findings and negative laboratory studies, caution is necessary. Under these circumstances it is claimed on clinical epidemiological evidence that a diagnosis of 'epidemic neuromyasthenia' could be sustained confidently in three patients and probably in a fourth. Six patients were considered possible cases and four were rejected.
 ...
PMID:'Epidemic neuromyasthenia' in Southwest Ireland. 74 20

Outbreaks of illnesses of unknown etiology typified by a chronic relapsing course of constitutional symptoms and nervous system involvement have collectively been referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome, epidemic neuromyasthenia, and myalgic encephalomyelitis. To examine heterogeneity of clinical presentation, a comparative review was undertaken for 12 well-documented outbreaks reported since 1934. A systemic syndrome characterized by excessive fatigue, myalgias, headache, low-grade fever, and other constitutional symptoms was common to cases in all outbreaks. However, marked heterogeneity in the range of neurological features was apparent. On the basis of predominant neurological manifestations, outbreaks could be grouped into four levels of increasing neurological involvement: affective neuropsychological changes (level I); prominent cutaneous sensory symptoms with both affective and cognitive neuropsychological changes (level II); marked objective paresis with cutaneous sensory as well as affective and cognitive neuropsychological changes (level III); and cutaneous sensory, affective and cognitive neuropsychological, posterior column, cranial nerve, and mixed upper and lower motor neuron changes (level IV). Groups with the most prominent objective neurological findings (levels III and IV) comprised exclusively outbreaks reported between the 1930s and 1950s. All but one outbreak in groups with less prominent neurological findings (levels I and II) were reported between the 1960s and 1980s; a range of neurological features was observed for these groups. Because a complete neurological examination is not emphasized as part of the diagnostic workup in current outbreaks, it is possible that less obvious neurological findings may be overlooked. Careful evaluation of neurological features in epidemic and endemic cases of what is now called chronic fatigue syndrome may be one approach to distinguishing subtypes of what has been described in the past as a nosological entity.
 ...
PMID:A comparative review of systemic and neurological symptomatology in 12 outbreaks collectively described as chronic fatigue syndrome, epidemic neuromyasthenia, and myalgic encephalomyelitis. 814 51