According to recent statistics, it affects about 1.5-2 million Italians, especially between the ages of 25 and 55. Women are most interested in it with an incidence ratio compared to men of 9: 1. There fibromyalgia it is a rheumatic disease that affects the muscles and the skeleton and is characterized by the presence of chronic pain and stiffness in many locations of the musculoskeletal system. The term derives from the Latin “fibro” and from the Greek “myo” (muscle) e “salary” (ache). So it literally means “pain from the muscles and fibrous tissues” (tendons and ligaments). Since the clinical signs can occur at the same time, it is called fibromyalgia syndrome.
In the past, the disease was considered to be fibrositis. In the late 1940s, excluding the presence of inflammation, it was established that fibromyalgia had a psychological basis. Currently, according to the international classification of diseases, the disorder should be classified as a functional somatic syndrome. Although the cause, fibromyalgia is thought to have a multifactorial genesis. In almost all cases, its onset is related to an event apparently not associated with the disorder: physical and psychological trauma, problems and problems with a viral etiology. There are various risk factors that favor its occurrence:
1) Alteration at the level of neurotransmitters
Strong endogenous or exogenous stress alters the functioning of brain neurotransmitters (serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine) and contributes to the onset of painful symptoms. At the same time the endocrine and immune systems are affected by the malfunction of the neuronal-brain networks. Consequently, the hyperactivity of the vegetative nervous system causes a deficit of blood circulation in the muscles with relative hyperalgesia.
2) Physical and / or emotional stress
The disease is frequently associated with conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and irritable bowel syndrome. Physical trauma to the brain, spinal cord and cervical whiplash should not be underestimated.
3) Hormonal imbalance
Changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis have been observed in fibromyalgia subjects. Therefore, it is not excluded that a cause of the disease may be a disturbance of the endocrine system.
4) Infections
Some problems, often of viral etiology, are able to trigger or aggravate the symptoms. These include infectious mononucleosis, Lyme disease and bacterial contamination of the small intestine.
Researchers from the Department of Medicine of the University of Verona and the Department of Experimental Medicine of the University of Genoa have ascertained the existence of autoimmune factors underlying fibromyalgia. The studio, the results of which were published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, was conducted by analyzing the genome of patients and comparing it with that of an experimental control group composed of healthy subjects, divided by age and sex. In the first part of the investigation, the deregulated genes of the disease were identified. Subsequently, researching the alterations at the cellular level, it was found that they concerned the cells of the immune system and that they had characteristics similar to those found in autoimmune diseases. The discovery opens the door to new and increasingly targeted therapeutic strategies.
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