FACTS ABOUT FIBROMYALGIA

Fibromyalgia is a common and disturbing ailment. Fibromyalgia is estimated to affect 2–8% of the population, with a female to male incidence ratio of approximately 9:1. Fibromyalgia is basically a functional somatic syndrome ie a physical response to depression and stress.

- Dr Arun Oommen

Exact cause is unknown but is believed to involve psychological, genetic, neurobiological and environmental factors. The same genes causing fibromyalgia are also associated with other functional somatic syndromes and major depressive disorder. The central symptom of fibromyalgia, namely widespread pain, appears to result from neuro-chemical imbalances including activation of inflammatory pathways in the brain which results in abnormalities in pain processing.

Fibromyalgia patients have a lower threshold for pain because of increased reactivity of pain-sensitive nerve cells in the spinal cord or brain. Neuropathic pain and major depressive disorder often co-occur with fibromyalgia – the reason for this comorbidity appears to be due to shared genetic abnormalities, Neurochemical abnormalities that occur in fibromyalgia also regulate mood, sleep and energy, thus explaining why mood, sleep and fatigue problems are commonly co-morbid with fibromyalgia

Mode of inheritance is currently unknown, but it is most probably polygenic.