Did 'The Princess on the Pea' suffer from FM?

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Source: Co-Cure

Did 'The Princess on the Pea' suffer from fibromyalgia syndrome? The

influence on sleep and the effects of acupuncture. Acupunct Med.

2007 Dec;25(4):184-97. Lundeberg T, Lund I. PMID: 18160929

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterised

by central sensitisation resulting in hypersentivity of the skin and

deeper tissues as well as fatigue. Possibly the princess in Hans

Christian Andersen's 'The Princess and the Pea' suffered from FMS

since chronic sleep disturbances are typical in FMS. These sleep

disturbances have been attributed to a dysfunction in the systems

regulating sleep and wakefulness resulting in loss of deep sleep. In

addition, many patients with FMS experience cognitive dysfunction,

characterised by impaired concentration and short term memory

consolidation, a complaint also commonly reported in other sleep

disorders. In recent reviews evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture

in FMS it has been concluded that acupuncture has no specific

effect. A prerequisite for this conclusion is that all the major

symptoms in the syndrome have been assessed. However, previous

studies have generally focused on the pain alleviating effect of

acupuncture in FMS. We have observed that not only pain but also

sleep and cognitive dysfunction may be ameliorated in response to

acupuncture, suggesting that these variables should be taken into

account when evaluating the effects of acupuncture in FMS.

Furthermore, the results demonstrated great individual variability

apart from the systematic effects related to the group, indicating

that individually performed treatment strategies are required. Our

suggestion is supported by experimental and clinical studies showing

that acupuncture may affect insomnia and alertness, and that there

may be neurophysiologic bases for these specific effects.