What is Fibromyalgia?
Formerly known as fibrositis, fibromyalgia is a newer problem. Not exactly a disease, but more of a syndrome associated with a host of various problems.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition which causes pain, stiffness, tender joints and muscles. The condition is also noted to cause poor sleeping habits, feelings of fatigue, anxiety, depression, as well as difficulty with bowel movements. Those with fibromyalgia experience pain in response to stimuli that are normally not perceived as painful.
Although fibromyalgia is one of the most common diseases affecting muscles in human beings, its root cause is unknown. Despite potentially disabling body pain, patients with fibromyalgia do not develop body deformity and does not cause damage to internal organs.
Doctors have found that elevated levels of a nerve chemical, named substance P, and low levels of the brain chemical serotonin are in patients with fibromyalgia. Studies of pain in fibromyalgia have indicated that the central nervous system may be susceptible.
Fibromyalgia affects mostly women (75%) in their thirty’s and into their mid-fifties and rarely affects men. It can sometimes be associated with another disease, such as arthritis. In North America, approximately 1.7% of the population has fibromyalgia. Read more…