International Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day

Published by ICSEB at 12 May, 2025

Since 1993, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated 12 May as the World Awareness Day for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The date honours Florence Nightingale, a renowned Brithish nursing pioneer, writer, and statistician, who is believed to have suffered from a similar, chronic, and debilitating illness, though unknown at the time. Both conditions belong to the group of Central Sensitivity Syndromes.

Dr. M. B. Royo Salvador and his collaborators, through their research on Filum Disease (FD) and Neuro-Cranio-Vertebral Syndrome (NCVS), identified a close relationship between these conditions and both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. This relationship has been clinically documented in patients both before the treatment with the Filum System® and in the favourable outcomes observed postoperatively.

Many symptoms experienced by these patients are shared across all three conditions, they may overlap or lead to diagnostic confusion and uncertainty about which syndrome is the root cause.

The mechanisms currently being studied that may link Filum Disease with these syndromes, appear to involve abnormal traction of the Filum terminale The tension can  lead to alteration and progressive deterioration  in the nervous system, as well as neuro-endocrine and autonomic systems (see Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1. – Mechanism linking Filum Disease with Fibromyalgia.
(from: “Patient Guide” – https://amzn.eu/d/3ljrFsg)

Figure 2. – Mechanism linking FD with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
(from: “Patient Guide” – https://amzn.eu/d/3ljrFsg)

Based on these findings, our neurosurgical team recommends that patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome – who are seeking an effective treatment – undergo the established testing protocol to determine whether Filum Disease might be present.

In many cases, an impact on the occipital foramen or descent of the cerebellar tonsils (Arnold-Chiari Syndrome 0 or I), intramedullary cavities (idiopathic syringomyelia), or idiopathic scoliosis – caused by FD and NCVS – can be identified in association with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

When such associations are confirmed, the Filum System® method can be applied, offering both a surgical intervention and for postoperative rehabilitation. In most of our cases to date, this approach has led to excellent results in improving patients’ quality of life.

For more information:

Fibromyalgia: https://institutchiaribcn.com/en/fibromyalgia-fibromyalgia-syndrome/

Chronic Fatigue: https://institutchiaribcn.com/en/myalgic-encephalomyelitis-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/