Fibromyalgia

Description

Fibromyalgia is a rheumatic disorder characterized by achy pain, tenderness, and stiffness of muscles, areas of tendon insertions, and adjacent soft-tissue structures. These symptoms may be primary, or concomitant with another associated or underlying condition. Fibromyalgia is often related to overuse. Any of the fibrous muscular tissues may be involved, but those of the occiput, low back (lumbago), neck (neck pain or spasm), shoulders, thorax (pleurodynia), and thighs (aches and charley horses) are especially affected.

Fibromyalgia occurs mainly in females. It may be induced or intensified by physical or mental stress, poor sleep, trauma, exposure to dampness or cold, and occasionally by a systemic, usually rheumatic, disorder. A viral or other systemic infection (e.g., Lyme disease) may precipitate the syndrome.

Diagnosis of fibromyalgia is by recognition of the typical pattern of diffuse fibromyalgia and non-rheumatic symptoms (e.g., poor sleep, anxiety, fatigue, irritable bowel symptoms) and by exclusion of significant contributory or underlying diseases (e.g., generalized osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, polymyalgia rheumatica, or other connective tissue diseases).

Causes

Accumulating evidence suggests that FMS is a systemic biochemical condition influenced by multifactorial imbalances throughout the body. Proper testing can identify many of these imbalances, and help determine which interventions are likely to be most effective for each patient.

Cellular Energy: Cells vitally depend on organic acid nutrients to produce energy for muscle and other tissues throughout the body. Imbalances can lead to energy depletion and chronic pain

Adrenal Stress: Fibromyalgia has been closely linked with stress-induced imbalances that disrupt the healthy regulation of the body's hormonal and nervous systems

IGF-1: IGF-1 deficiency is a consistent finding in many patients with fibromyalgia, and may be linked to symptoms of fatigue, muscle weakness, and depression

Amino Acids: Imbalances of certain amino acids can trigger primary neurological mechanisms affecting mood and pain sensation, and thus may serve as an important focus for alleviating major symptoms

Element Imbalances: Individuals with fibromyalgia often have physiological systems that are more sensitive to nutrient shortages and toxic exposure

Thyroid Hormones: Some patients with fibromyalgia- including many resistant to conventional treatments for the condition-show clinical signs of thyroid dysfunction.

Detoxification: Patients with fibromyalgia may be more sensitive to toxins because their systems are less able to break these substances down and eliminate them from the body.

Allergy: A hidden sensitivity to foods or inhalants could set off an inflammatory immune cascade that leads to many classic symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Gastrointestinal Function: The high prevalence of irritable bowel symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia may require specific testing to detect and alleviate common causes of digestive dysfunction

Melatonin: Sleep disturbances and pain sensations in fibromyalgia can be exacerbated if the body's internal biological "clock" is disrupted.