What is Fibromyalgia?
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What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by soft muscle and joint pain. There are 18 criteria that physicians use to diagnose fibromyalgia; these have to do with 18 areas of the body that are "trigger points." To make the official diagnosis of fibromyalgia, a patient must have at least 11 trigger points. Fibromyalgia is thought by physicians to be a form of rheumatism, but it does not respond to traditional treatments for rheumatism!.The exact cause of fibromyalgia isn't clearly understood, but researchers have found that there MAY be some association of fibromyalgia with (1) a traumatic emotional experience (2) stress and/or depression, (3) deficiencies in magnesium, phosphate and oxygen in the body. To make it even more complicated, fibromyalgia very often is referred to as "The Terrible Three," referring to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and acute dryness in the eyes and throat. If a person has one of these conditions, he/she probably has, or will have, the other two! Universally, the main symptoms of fibromyalgia are pain and stiffness in soft muscle tissue and joints, chronic aching, sleep disturbances, fatigue, stress/anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, there is no cure for fibromyalgia. But patients can be treated for its symptoms by a physician.
Comments
5/25/2007 7:05:06 PMDianne said:
I have fibro, and yes, all of the above. What I want to know is, is there NO cure for it? If we know what it IS, why cant we treat it? We can send man to the moon but cant cure a disease such as this!
11/12/2008 6:53:04 PM
Susie Lewis said:
I have never read anything about lack of oxygen being a factor in fibromyalgia. I would love to learn more about this. How is this diagnosed?
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