Fibromyalgia is on the rise. This has been a disheartening for thing for patients and medical practitioners alike. For patients, it’s because fibromyalgia’s main symptom in most cases of the disease is widespread chronic pain. As for doctors, the surge in fibromyalgia cases means more unanswered questions about how to treat and eradicate the disease.
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Here’s some recent health news that might at least shed some light on two possible triggers of fibromyalgia: infections and vaccinations. Researchers in Belluno, Italy noted that many people indistinctively describe fibromyalgia pain as “widespread,” “diffuse” or “generalized.” This, they say, may lead to misunderstandings about the true clinical nature of the pain and its scientific significance.
Research into chronic widespread pain and/or fibromyalgia is difficult to conduct and can lead to conflicting results. Chronic widespread pain and fibromyalgia are disorders that have multiple causes. There is increasing evidence that they may be triggered by other factors.
To get up to date on the whole situation, the researchers decided to review available data concerning the relationships between fibromyalgia and widespread pain (in its various meanings) with infections and vaccinations. They conducted an exhaustive review that started with the earliest report and went up to the most recent contributions.
After considering all these scientific papers, various levels of possible associations began to emerge. The researchers found a higher prevalence of fibromyalgia and chronic pain in patients with Lyme disease, human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis C virus infection and, perhaps, also in patients with mycoplasmas (a type of bacteria that cause infection), hepatitis B, HTLV I (a retrovirus that causes cancer), and parvovirus B19 infections. Some evidence and case reports also suggest that vaccinations may trigger
fibromyalgia or chronic pain.
If you suffer from fibromyalgia pain and don’t know how you contracted the condition, vaccinations and/or infections are possible causes that you can discuss with your healthcare provider. You may want to also get your doctor’s advice if you are due for any vaccinations.