Medically unexplained physical symptoms

Medically unexplained physical symptoms or MUPS is a term used in health care to describe a situation where an individual suffers from multiple physical symptoms for which the physician or other healthcare provider has found no physical cause. Up to 30% of all primary care consultations are patients with medically unexplained symptoms. The term is commonly used to refer to Gulf War illness and more occasionally to other symptom-based diagnoses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple chemical sensitivity. The term does not imply that a physical cause does not exist, and as more becomes known about a disorder (as is the case with chronic fatigue syndrome) it may be applied less often.

History and usage
The term medically unexplained physical symptoms was first used in 1987 by D.I. Melville.

MUPS is not synonymous with somatization disorder or psychosomatic illness where the cause or perception of symptoms is mental in origin. Instead, MUPS refers to the clinical situation where the cause of the symptoms cannot be determined, but might include somatic, physical or environmental causes.

However, several definitions of both somatization and MUPS exist, and the usage of both terms is not consistent in medical literature and practice. MUPS is sometimes used interchangeably with both somatization and functional somatic symptoms.

Contested causation
The lack of etiology diagnosis in MUPS cases can lead to conflict between patient and health-care provider over the diagnosis and treatment of MUPS. This conflict can occur in the public arena and may involve media controversy, advocacy groups, scientific and political debate and even legal proceedings.

Diagnosis of MUPS is seldom a satisfactory situation for the patient, as many patients feel this implies it is "all in their head." This can lead to an adversarial doctor-patient relationship, which can develop into an iatrogenic neurosis, thus complicating the situation.

According to psychiatrist Simon Wessely, "Various names have been given to medically unexplained symptoms. These include somatisation, somatoform disorders and functional somatic symptoms." He continues to claim "that a substantial overlap exists between the individual syndromes and that the similarities between them outweigh the differences". In another publication, Wessely warns that "the conferring of an illness label is not a neutral act, since specific labels are associated with specific beliefs and attitudes", and "even when organic illness is certain, the illness label can result in adverse behaviour changes".

Wessely's views have been met with considerable criticism. Bell and Lapp argue that "the existence of an illness is not dependent on a reliable, objective marker to identify the condition, or upon knowledge of aetiology".

Treatment
A randomized controlled trial found improvement using multi-faceted, collaborative care.