MAY 12: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FIBROMYALGIA

Around 1% and 2% of the Chilean population is affected with fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome that produces chronic pain affecting the skeletal muscle. It generates intense pain while touching certain body spots. In addition to the increased pain sensitivity, this disease has other symptoms such as muscle stiffness, fatigue, and unrefreshing sleep, affecting patients’ quality of life.

According to the Fibromyalgia Corporation of Chile, around 1% and 2% of the Chilean population is affected. Moreover, it is more frequent in women than men and can be shown at any age, even in children and adolescents.

Its etiology is unknown, and there is no specific treatment or test for this diagnosis, except for palliative treatments to moderate symptoms. After ruling out several other pathologies, the questionnaire modCr FAS 2019 is used for its diagnosis. FAS includes questions that address fatigue, sleep quality, and widespread chronic pain. In this sense, the patients are asked to rate chronic pain in 19 body regions by assigning scores based on the pain intensity.

Recent studies have demonstrated that antibodies extracted from FM patients can increase sensitivity to mechanical stimulation and dangerous cold in experimental paradigms. Then, these results propose the reduction of several antibodies in FM patients for future therapies that could be effective for treating fibromyalgia.  

https://www.fibromialgiachile.cl/

Salaffi et al, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keaa061

Goebel et al, 2021 DOI: 10.1172/JCI144201