By Russ Juskalian
Diagnosing a patient is, in a lot of ways, like detective work. And over the years, as one medical mystery is solved—such as when germs and not an imbalance of bodily humors were found to cause disease—others crop up. Here are nine diseases or syndromes that historically baffled epidemiologists and physicians alike. Some, like syphilis, are today easy to diagnose and cure (especially when caught early), while others, like chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, have raised more questions than answers.
And then there are illnesses like Lyme disease (transmitted in some situations by the deer tick, shown here), in which a combination of misinformation and potentially unclear diagnostic tests can lead to patient suffering, excessive treatments, and even medical fraud.
