Rahman, A., Underwood, M., & Carnes, D. (2014). Fibromyalgia. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 348. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26514070

Fibromyalgia (Rahman, et al., 2014)

•Infections such as the Epstein–Barr virus or parvovirus, brucellosis and Lyme disease have been found to be potential causes fibromyalgia in some patients.
•Physical trauma, especially one that affects the spine has been found to be a trigger.

•Psychological stressors, such as childhood trauma and abuse, daily stressors, and PTSD have been linked to onset of fibromyalgia.

Stressors and Environmental Factors

Research shows immediate family members of patients with fibromyalgia have an eightfold higher risk of developing the condition and have more tender points than control groups.

Genetics as Possible Cause of Fibromyalgia

Psychological stressors that may contribute to the onset of fibromyalgia symptoms:

•	Childhood trauma and abuse

•	Daily life hassles

•	Exposure to war

•	Catastrophic events

•	Persecution


Stressors as Possible Cause of Fibromyalgia

The following infections have been accompanied by the development of fibromyalgia symptoms:

•	Epstein–Barr virus

•	Brucellosis

•	Lyme disease 

•	Any prolonged febrile disorder


Infections as Possible Causes of Fibromyalgia

There are no specific causes of the onset of fibromyalgia symptoms but the following have been found as triggers:

•	Genetics

•	Stressors

•	Infections


University of Colorado at Denver

Fibromyalgia is an illness which presents itself as widespread and a variety of other impairing symptoms. This condition is classified under ‘diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue’ in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

Fibromyalgia

Häuser, W., Ablin, J., Fitzcharles, M.-A., Littlejohn, G., Luciano, J. V., Usui, C., & Walitt, B. (2015). Fibromyalgia. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.22

Fibromyalgia (Häuser et al., 2015)

Possible Causes of Fibromyalgia

There is no "cure" for fibromyalgia but there are different treatments that help the different symptoms become more manageable. Some of the treatments include:

•	Physical therapy

•	Acupuncture 

•	Psychological therapies

•	Analgesics

•	Opioids

•	Antidepressants

•	Anticonvulsant drugs

•	A healthy lifestyle


Treatments for Fibromyalgia

There is no way to get exact statistics of the amount of people affected by fibromyalgia, but studies have found a few patterns in regard to who has a higher chance of receiving the diagnosis. The prevalence in the population is most likely lower than 2-4% in the United States.

Prevalence of Fibromyalgia in the U.S.

Fibromyalgia does not have a specific test for diagnosis, but usually patients need to meet certain requirements. Different doctors use different criteria to diagnose but usually try to rule out other disorders before giving this diagnosis.

Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

In this experiment, the upper limb of patients was placed in cold water and a visual analogue scale was used to measure the degree of pain that was experienced.


Experimental Model of Pain in Fibromyalgia Patients


• chronic widespread pain and tenderness

• unrefreshing sleep or other problems with sleep

• feelings of physical exhaustion

• cognitive difficulties such as brain fog

• fatigue and a variety of other somatic and psychological symptoms.

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