As we were discussing arthritis last week, I noticed that one article stated that there are over 100 types of arthritis. While we’re mainly discussing osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, I thought I’d look into the other forms of arthritis out there. On the Arthritis Foundation website I discovered that fibromyalgia is one of the forms of arthritis. Fibromyalgia is described as a syndrome that causes long-lasting wide-spread pain and tenderness in specific areas of the body. Even though there is no inflammation or damage to the joints, fibromyalgia is considered a part of the arthritis family because it is a rheumatic condition since it impairs the joints and sometimes the soft tissues.
I find it intriguing that this syndrome was originally thought to be “all in the patients” heads since it is difficult to diagnose. However, this article points out that studies have been done to prove it exists. Unlike other forms of arthritis, fibromyalgia doesn’t progress over time, and it isn’t fatal. There isn’t a cure to fibromyalgia, but there are ways to cope with the symptoms, such as exercise, rest, and medications.
I’m curious if other forms of arthritis have been considered to be “all their head” if physicians had difficulty diagnosing the symptoms.
This information can be found at:
http://www.arthritis.org/disease-center.php?disease_id=10
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ReplyDeleteIts interesting that this is a classification of arthritis! Reading the generic description of fibromyalgia on wikipedia it seems more like a neurological disorder. It is most commonly seen in women age 20-50, and the underlying cause is still unknown.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment on this post because I always see that commercial for Cymbalta (duloxetine). They have some quirky description of fibromyalgia and a few poorly animated nerve synapses on screen while they announce to patients to ask their doctor about Cymbalta to combat their symptoms. And of course, there is the long list of symptoms. Interestingly enough, Cymbalta is actually a medication to treat depression. It is commonly used to treat depression, general anxiety disorder, and diabetic neuropathy in addition to the symptoms related to fibromyalgia. "It works by increasing the amounts of serotonin and norepinephrine, natural substances in the brain that help maintain mental balance and stop the movement of pain signals in the brain."- Pub Med. Has anyone else seen this commercial.
The exact reasons that Cymbalta works for fibromyalgia patients is unknown, since there is still a lot we don't know about the disease itself. I forget that, even in our day and age, there is still a lot we don't know!
To learn more about Cymbalta: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000274
I think it is weird that fibromyalgia is classified as arthritis, since most of its symptoms don't really relate to arthritis. I did some research on it and fibromyalgia my be rheumatic but it doesn't cause inflammation or damage to joints like rheumatic arthritis does. It can also have symptoms other than pain and fatigue like irritable bowel syndrome and and sensitivity to noise and lights. These symptoms are inconsistent with those of arthritis. I am curious to see what other research is out there regarding fibromyalgia because it seems like not a lot is known about it. I think a lot more research needs to be done and there needs to be more evidence before we can classify it as arthritis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rasneet, more research needs to be done to provide more evidence about the causes of this disease. There are some suggestions that physical or emotional trauma, sleep disturbances, an infectious microbe or a virus may trigger the illness however, there aren't enough supporting evidence about these causes and most evidence are very preliminary.
ReplyDeleteI am curious why it is most common in women than men, as Jen has mentioned "it is most commonly seen in women". Is it because men are stronger in their muscle strength or there is any other reason?
I know my former colleague has a fibromyalgia. She has knee problems and chronic back pain. She was taking a muscle relaxing, depression medicine (Cymbalta)and lots of pain killer. Another lady who has a fibromyalgia was saying that her Dr suggested her to move to warmer climate place. Also when she took medicine for a fibromyalgia. it made her feel emotionally aggressive. She does not remember what was the name of medicine she took but I was thinking that reason for depression medicine might be for treating a side effect the other medication.
ReplyDeleteI searched some of the symptoms for Fibromyalgia and a few of the symptoms listed are similar to arthritis such as joint stiffness and pain. However there are other symptoms like sleep disturbance, depression, and anxiety that are completely unrelated to the common symptoms of arthritis. This is a disease with a wide range of symptoms therefore more than one type of medication must be proscribed. But different people react differently with medications maybe that is the reason why NaokoH's friend is feeling emotionally aggressive after taking medicine for fibromyalgia.
ReplyDeleteAfter talking about fybromyalgia in class I also did some research, and however some sites and papers do mention that the condition can fall under the category of arthritis I'm still not seeing the connection. Fybromyalgia still seems to be idiopathic, but what some are saying that it arises from constant pain stimulus. this pain stimulus somehow changes the brain chemistry to neurotransmitters making the infected people more sensitive to stimuli, which is how they get this "pain all over" feeling, and pain due to light pressure. This makes more sense that fybromyalgia could be a secondary disease to rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, because obviously people with arthritis, if moving are going to be constantly having pain in the joints affected with the disease. These constant pain stimuli could then effect the pain stimulus/response mechanisms which could then lead to systemic problems like fybromyalgia. I know that some publications are saying that fybromyalgia is a subset of arthritis but it just seems much more intuitive that fybromyalgia is a secondary disease to arthritis. The mayoclinic website has some good information.
ReplyDeleteWhen real or perceived tissue damage occurs, sensory neurons send release neurotransmitters that stimulate the immune cells of the central nervous system (microglia and astroglia). The glial cells sensitize the sensory neurons, and after repeated noxious stimulation can cause what is known as central sensitization. In this process, secondary sensory neurons become hypersensitive and can cause pain with innocuous stimuli. Generally this goes away, but some hypothesize that peripheral immune activation may help sustain central sensitization. Chronic pain is associated with many autoimmune diseases, suggesting that immune disregulation may be a sustaining factor. Fibromyalgia could be secondary to an autoimmune disease, but what about the posibility that once central sensitization occurs, the normal activities of the immune system sustain the pain? Either way, fibromyalgia causes joint pain and an immunologic component is helping drive it. Until research uncovers more information, it sounds enough like arthritis to me.
ReplyDeleteA. Gobel (J Clin Immunol (2010) 30 (Suppl 1):S103–S108)
I was asked what was done at the physical therapy clinic that I work at and was not completely sure how to answer. I finally talked to the therapist I work for about it. She told me that much research has been done on the benefits of aerobic exercise for easing the symptoms of fibromyalgia. so in the clinic we try and have the patients do as many exercises as possible. The problem with this is they are in pain. Moving hurts them, sitting hurts them they are irritable because they are in pain. Most do not want to do any sort of exercise. I have worked recently with two specific patient that I have experienced this with. Both have refused to do the exercises the therapist has recommended. It seems like such an awful disease, that not enough research has been put into it.
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