How to deal with medically unknown symptoms.

Abstract

The term medically unknown symptoms covers various symptoms and diagnoses that change with the advance of medical knowledge.1 Included in this term are illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, environmental sensitivities, and chemical intolerances (sometimes referred to as multiple chemical sensitivities). Although the acceptability of these symptoms as real depends on the cultural and medical climate in which they are seen, patients will continue to appear in physicians' offices with these types of complaints. Denying that patients have these symptoms will only make their problems worse.