Is Fibromyalgia Neurological Illness Or Autoimmune Illness

Assumption:

With all the anecdotal evidence with Lyrica, Neurotin and anti seizure medicines being used so frequently, I assume fibro is a neurological illness, or an illness with a large neurological component. Those stating that it is an autoimmune illness seems to be making that claim to sell home remedy and herbs.

Top Ten Search Results of The three sets of keywords:

No ad results were used. Only clicked on what appears to be an article on the topic of the keyword entered. The first set of keywords used was “fibromyalgia autoimmune illness” and the second set of keywords was “fibromyalgia Neurological Illness”. This is not a scientific study by any means, but it does create more compelling evidence as to whether fibromyalgia is neurological disorder or an autoimmune disorder.

Conclusion: I read twenty articles and of them comes the following conclusions: Six articles said is was a neurological disease, one article said it was a autoimmune disease. Seven articles said it was not an autoimmune disease. Five articles were inconclusive. Any articles in Purple are recommended as a good read.

More details and the results of the twenty searches are below:

Keywords: Fibromyalgia Autoimmune Illness:

(1) “Is Fibromyalgia Hereditary?

Like other rheumatic diseases, fibromyalgia could be the result of a genetic tendency that’s passed from mother to daughter. Some researchers believe that a person’s genes may regulate the way his or her body processes painful stimuli. These scientists theorize that people with fibromyalgia may have a gene or genes that cause them to react intensely to stimuli that most people would not perceive as painful. Several genes have been found to occur more often in people with fibromyalgia. (WebMD) {Genetic}

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(2) Life With an Autoimmune Disease

Also followed a link to another article in Web MD Autoimmune Diseases. Nothing in the article mentions anything about fibromyalgia being an autoimmune disease. {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(3) Autoimmune Disease Fact Sheet.

Are chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia autoimmune diseases? Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are not autoimmune diseases. But they often have symptoms of autoimmune disease, like being tired all the time and pain.

(WomensHealth.Gov) {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(4) Fibromyalgia. An article from the University of Maryland Medical Center

Comes out and says it resembles some autoimmune diseases, but it is not an autoimmune Disease. This is a recommended read at: <http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/fibromyalgia&gt; {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(5) Fibro Related Conditions. No conclusions as to whether fibromyalgia us neurological or an autoimmune illness. Health.com {Inconclusive}

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(6) Is Fibromyalgia an Autoimmune Disease?

No — or at least, it’s not classified as one at this time.

Because fibromyalgia was once believed to be an arthritis-related condition, and most arthritis is autoimmune, the assumption was that fibromyalgia fit into this category. ChronicFatigue.About.Com {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(7) Is fibromyalgia an autoimmune disorder of endogenous vasoactive neuropeptides?

This article includes references to neurology but conclude that Fibro is likely related to Autoimmune related illnesses http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15082086&gt; {Autoimmune Disease}

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(8) Autoimmune Disorders of the Joints, Muscles, and Nerves

It has not been officially categorized as an autoimmune condition, but it is sometimes put in that category because it frequently occurs in patients with other diseases that cause musculoskeletal symptoms, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, which are both autoimmune disorders. Everydayhealth.com {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(9) Developments in the Scientific and Clinical Understanding of Fibromyalgia

FM is common in patients with autoimmune disease and may be the source of many of the symptoms, and much of the disability in these patients. Although FM is generally regarded as a noninflammatory and nonautoimmune disease, some patients have evidence of autoimmunity. Medscape.com {Not Autoimmune Disease}

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(10) 7 Things You Should Know About Autoimmune Diseases

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are not autoimmune diseases. Both are frequently categorized as such, because they share many common symptoms to autoimmune diseases, but they are technically not autoimmune diseases. As such, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome may be even less understood by doctors. People with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue may, however, also have associated autoimmune diseases, according to the AARDA. Huffington Post {Not Autoimmune Disease}

Keywords: Fibromyalgia Neurological Illness :

(1) Fibromyalgia: Is Fibromyalgia Real?

A growing body of information suggests fibromyalgia is a true neurological disorder.

http://patients.aan.com/resources/neurologynow/index.cfm?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com%3A%2Fbib%2Fovftdb%2F01222928-200905050-00024 {Neurological}

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(2) Neurological Signs and Symptoms in Fibromyalgia

Objective: To determine the type and frequency of neurological signs and symptoms in individuals with fibromyalgia (FM).

Conclusions: This blinded, controlled study demonstrated neurological physical examination findings in persons with FM. The FM group had more neurological symptoms than controls, with a moderate correlation between symptoms and signs. These findings have implications for the medical work-up of patients with FM.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769083/ {Neurological}

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(3) The Neurological Connection to Fibromyalgia

If you have fibromyalgia, some of your symptoms might be caused by a neurological disorder such as a cervical spinal cord compression (stenosis) and/or Chiara malformation. It is important for your long term health and for relief of pain, fatigue, and mental function, to rule out neurological conditions as part of your syndrome. If you answer yes to several of the following questions, you should take the initiative to be examined by a neurosurgeon for possible neurological implications.

NFRA.NET {Inconclusive, leans toward neurological}

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(4) Fibromyalgia: Understand the Diagnosis Process

Fibromyalgia symptoms include widespread body pain, fatigue, poor sleep and mood problems. But all of these symptoms are common to many other conditions. And because fibromyalgia symptoms can occur alone or along with other conditions, it can take time to tease out which symptom is caused by what problem. To make things even more confusing, fibromyalgia symptoms can come and go over time.

MayoClinic.Org {Inconclusive}

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(5) Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Chronic widespread body pain which can wax and wane is the primary symptom of fibromyalgia. Both men and women with fibromyalgia often experience moderate to extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, sensitivity to touch, light, and sound, and cognitive difficulties. Many individuals also experience a number of other symptoms and overlapping conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, TMJD, lupus and arthritis. Stress often increases symptoms of fibromyalgia. fmcpaware.org {Inconclusive}

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(6) A Neurologist’s Approach

As a neurologist, I often use anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) to help control pain. There appears to be an overlapping neurological system involved in epilepsy, depression, and pain, because similar medications seem to exert an impact on those same systems. AEDs are often good at relieving migraines and they are effective at reducing burning pain. However, their ability to treat the dull, achy, widespread pain of fibromyalgia is not easy to predict. I start a person on one AED, and if it helps, but the pain is still bad, I will usually add a second AED with a different mechanism of action. {Inconclusive, leans toward neurological}

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(7) Numbness, insomnia, constant pain and fatigue… Just some of the symptoms of a debilitating illness that affects 1.8m Britons

It is an illness that can lead to excruciating pain at points all over the body, numbness, crushing fatigue coupled with insomnia, and an inability to handle even mild changes in temperature or light. Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition thought to affect 1.8 million Britons to varying degrees, and experts do not know what causes it. http://www.dailymail.co.uk {Neurological}

(8) Is Fibromyalgia a Neurological Disorder

Fibromyalgia is diagnosed by the presence of its primary symptom which is widespread muscle and joint pain throughout the body. “The diagnosis of Fibromyalgia is given to a person when they have this unexplainable pain in various parts of their body.” What is Fibromyalgia That’s a good question and since no one knows exactly what causes this disease there is no definitive test for it. Disabled-World.com/ {Neurological}

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(9) Neurologic Signs Common With Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia isn’t all in your head, new research suggests. In a study, researchers found that people with fibromyalgia were more likely than those without the chronic pain condition to have poor balance, tingling and weakness in the arms and legs, and other “neurologic” signs and symptoms. The new findings, reported in the latest issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, support a growing body of literature suggesting that the condition is real and also support the possibility that a “neuroanatomical” cause may underlie fibromyalgia. These observations, Watson told Reuters Health, underscore the need for “careful neurological examinations in all fibromyalgia patients, particularly those with neurological complaints.” Watson cautioned that this study does not confirm a neuroanatomical basis for fibromyalgia and that much more work is necessary before this can be known with certainty. SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism, September 2009. Reuters.com {Neurological}

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(10) Fibromyalgia

Its exact cause is unknown but is believed to involve psychological, genetic, neurobiological and environmental factors. There is evidence that environmental factors and certain genes increase the risk of developing fibromyalgia; these same genes are also associated with other functional somatic syndromes and major depressive disorder The central symptom of fibromyalgia, namely widespread pain, appears to stem from neurochemical imbalances and the activation of inflammatory pathways in the brain which results in abnormalities in pain-processing. The brains of people with fibromyalgia show functional and structural differences from those of people without fibromyalgia, but it is unclear whether the brain anomalies cause fibromyalgia symptoms, or are the product of an unknown underlying common cause. Some research suggests that these brain anomalies may be the result of childhood stress, or prolonged or severe stress.

Wikipedia {Neurological}

Conclusion – What type of illness is Fibromyalgia?

Out of the top Ten sources for each pair of keywords, those articles states the any of the four or none of the four was the type of disease fibromyalgia is.

Neurological: 6

Autoimmune: 1

Arthritis Related:

Genetic: 1

Not Neurological:

Not Autoimmune: 7

Not Arthritis Related:

Not Genetic:

Inconclusive: 5

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