Functional somatic syndrome

Functional somatic syndrome
Classification and external resources

Functional somatic syndrome is a term used to refer to physical symptoms that are poorly explained. It encompass disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic widespread pain, temporomandibular disorder, irritable bowel syndrome,[1] lower back pain, tension headache, atypical face pain, non-cardiac chest pain, insomnia, palpitation, dyspepsia, and dizziness.[2] General overlap exists between this term, somatization, and somatoform.

Signs and symptoms

Functional somatic syndrome is characterized by ambiguous, non-specific symptoms that appear in otherwise-healthy populations. Overlap exists in different syndromes, including gastrointestinal issues, pain, fatigue, cognitive difficulties, and sleep difficulties. Some have proposed to group symptoms into clusters[3][4] or into one general functional somatic disorder given the finding of correlations between symptoms and underlying etiologies.[5]

Cause and pathophysiology

Psychological trauma or stress appears to predispose persons to a functional somatic syndrome.[1] HPA axis, autonomic nervous system, and immune response to stress has been proposed as a mediating mechanism.[6]

Treatment

Treatment may involve investigation, reassurance and explanation, and possibly specialist treatment such as antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy.[2]

Epidemiology

Functional somatic syndromes may occur in 6 to 36% of the population.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Afari, Niloofar; Ahumada, Sandra M.; Wright, Lisa Johnson; Mostoufi, Sheeva; Golnari, Golnaz; Reis, Veronica; Cuneo, Jessica Gundy (22 January 2017). "Psychological Trauma and Functional Somatic Syndromes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Psychosomatic medicine. 76 (1): 2–11. ISSN 0033-3174. PMC 3894419 Freely accessible. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000010.
  2. 1 2 3 Mayou, R. (3 August 2002). "ABC of psychological medicine: Functional somatic symptoms and syndromes". BMJ. 325 (7358): 265–268. doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7358.265.
  3. ↑ Fink, Per; Schröder, Andreas (May 2010). "One single diagnosis, bodily distress syndrome, succeeded to capture 10 diagnostic categories of functional somatic syndromes and somatoform disorders" (PDF). Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 68 (5): 415–426. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.02.004.
  4. ↑ Lacourt, Tamara; Houtveen, Jan; van Doornen, Lorenz (1 January 2013). ""Functional somatic syndromes, one or many?" An answer by cluster analysis". Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 74 (1): 6–11. ISSN 1879-1360. PMID 23272982. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.09.013.
  5. ↑ Wessely, Simon; White, Peter D. (1 August 2004). "There is only one functional somatic syndrome". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 185 (2): 95–96. ISSN 0007-1250. doi:10.1192/bjp.185.2.95.
  6. ↑ Fischer, Susanne; Lemmer, Gunnar; Gollwitzer, Mario; Nater, Urs M. (14 November 2014). "Stress and Resilience in Functional Somatic Syndromes – A Structural Equation Modeling Approach". PLoS ONE. 9 (11). ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4232257 Freely accessible. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111214.


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