Fibromyalgia likely the result of autoimmune problems

Ana

New member
Joined
Mar 6, 2021
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Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
00/1995
Country
US
State
MA
Date: July 1, 2021

Source: King's College London

Summary:

New research has shown that many of the symptoms in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are caused by antibodies that increase the activity of pain-sensing nerves throughout the body. The results show that fibromyalgia is a disease of the immune system, rather than the currently held view that it originates in the brain.
 
I found this article today at the Science Daily News and found it hopeful.

“The results show that fibromyalgia is a disease of the immune system, rather than the currently held view that it originates in the brain.
The study, published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates that the increased pain sensitivity, muscle weakness, reduced movement, and reduced number of small nerve-fibres in the skin that are typical of FMS, are all a consequence of patient antibodies.
The researchers injected mice with antibodies from people living with FMS and observed that the mice rapidly developed an increased sensitivity to pressure and cold, as well as displaying reduced movement grip strength. In contrast, mice that were injected with antibodies from healthy people were unaffected, demonstrating that patient antibodies cause, or at least are a major contributor to the disease.
Furthermore, the mice injected with fibromyalgia antibodies recovered after a few weeks, when antibodies had been cleared from their system. This finding strongly suggests that therapies which reduce antibody levels in patients are likely to be effective treatments. Such therapies are already available and are used to treat other disorders that are caused by autoantibodies.

Dr David Andersson, the study's primary investigator from King's IoPPN said "The implications of this study are profound. Establishing that fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disorder will transform how we view the condition and should pave the way for more effective treatments for the millions of people affected. Our work has uncovered a whole new area of therapeutic options and should give real hope to fibromyalgia patients.

"Previous exploration of therapies has been hampered by our limited understanding of the illness. This should now change. Treatment for FMS is focussed on gentle aerobic exercises, as well as drug and psychological therapies designed to manage pain, although these have proven ineffective in most patients and have left behind an enormous unmet clinical need."

Current estimates suggest that at least 1 in 40 people are affected by FMS worldwide (80% of which are women) and is commonly characterised by widespread pain throughout the body, as well as fatigue (often referred to as 'fibro fog') and emotional distress. It most commonly develops between the ages of 25 and 55, although children can also get it.

Dr Andreas Goebel, the study's principle clinical investigator from the University of Liverpool said, "When I initiated this study in the UK, I expected that some fibromyalgia cases may be autoimmune. But David's team have discovered pain-causing antibodies in each recruited patient. The results offer amazing hope that the invisible, devastating symptoms of fibromyalgia will become treatable."

Professor Camilla Svensson, the study's primary investigator from Karolinska Institute said, "Antibodies from people with FMS living in two different countries, the UK and Sweden, gave similar results, which adds enormous strength to our findings. The next step will be to identify what factors the symptom-inducing antibodies bind to. This will help us not only in terms of developing novel treatment strategies for FMS, but also of blood-based tests for diagnosis, which are missing today.

Dr Craig Bullock, Research Discovery and Innovations Lead at Versus Arthritis said "Fibromyalgia affects millions of people in the UK and can have a devastating impact on quality of life. It causes pain all over the body, fatigue, disturbed sleep and regular flare-ups where symptoms get even worse.

"Fibromyalgia is a particularly difficult condition to diagnose and manage because its causes are unknown. This research shows that antibodies found in human blood can cause fibromyalgia-like symptoms in mice, suggesting that these antibodies play a crucial role in the condition. Further research is needed but this offers hope to the millions of people with fibromyalgia that an effective treatment could be found in the relatively near future."
 
Ana, your second post contains several outside links, and it is against the forum rules to post outside links due to the danger of clicking on an unknown link. Therefore it will not be seen by anyone coming to this forum or by forum members.

If you want to give information on this forum, that's fine and welcomed, but you must remove all links to any site that is not on this forum.

What is preferable, rather than copy and pasting the article into a post, is to simply state the location of the information and let people go there on their own if they wish to. For example, stating "There is a good article on (fill in the blank) that you can find online if you Google "article about this in this publication".
Thanks.
 
Ana, your second post contains several outside links, and it is against the forum rules to post outside links due to the danger of clicking on an unknown link. Therefore it will not be seen by anyone coming to this forum or by forum members.

If you want to give information on this forum, that's fine and welcomed, but you must remove all links to any site that is not on this forum.

What is preferable, rather than copy and pasting the article into a post, is to simply state the location of the information and let people go there on their own if they wish to. For example, stating "There is a good article on (fill in the blank) that you can find online if you Google "article about this in this publication".
Thanks.
Thanks for letting me know the way is acceptable by the forum. I got so excited by this article and wanted to pass it along as soon as I finished reading it unfortunately I am using my iPhone and it’s difficult to manually go to the point.
 
I read that this morning as well but is it to our advantage?
 

Fibromyalgia likely the result of autoimmune problems​

Date:July 1, 2021Source:King's College LondonSummary:New research has shown that many of the symptoms in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are caused by antibodies that increase the activity of pain-sensing nerves throughout the body. The results show that fibromyalgia is a disease of the immune system, rather than the currently held view that it originates in the brain.
Great share Ana, thank you!
 
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Ana I got autoimmune thyroid it wasn’t diagnosed for ages even tho I had all the symptoms maybe immune system treating is my way forward god knows I’m trying everything else 😜
 
Ana I got autoimmune thyroid it wasn’t diagnosed for ages even tho I had all the symptoms maybe immune system treating is my way forward god knows I’m trying everything else 😜
I hear you. I’m not giving up! Like you I’m trying everything until we get some favorable treatment.
 
Yes that’s the way 👍🏼
 
I hear you. I’m not giving up! Like you I’m trying everything until we get some favorable treatment.
Good for you. The thing is, if you try enough things you may not find a cure, but you are almost certain to find things that will help. And that is a lot right there.
 
I couldn’t agree more
 
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As you've probably seen before, I delight in dissecting things supposedly clever people say, esp. when they are not worded/wording carefully (In this case the wording of the newspaper article is of course more suggestive than the study article). Sometimes false hope can help, but I prefer a realistic pov and then keeping my optimism fixed on what I can change now, so I'm fourthing y'all.. ;-)
To put it in perspective (I've read a bit of the original JCI-article too, which thankfully is online with free access):
This is one new study and needs to be replicated/replicable. It's in mice, the results may not be the same in humans. The result is one the researchers wanted, with a high expectancy from "all of us", so the setup, method, results or conclusion or several of these may be biased. After reading the article itself, I understand better how if "mice rapidly developed an increased sensitivity to pressure and cold, as well as displaying reduced movement grip strength" it follows that it demonstrates "increased pain sensitivity, muscle weakness, reduced movement, and reduced number of small nerve-fibres". However I am neither sensitive to pressure not to pain at all, never have been, have no "reduced movement grip strength", no weak muscles, only partly (since acupressure) to cold, and only partly (since GABA) reduced movement due to stiffness. And they are claiming that these are results for all fibromites, since they were 'the same' for all their 44 FMS patients (vs. 39 healthy). In the UK and Sweden, but 43 of 44 were women. So won't help me ;-D.
It's daring to say that the study "shows" it "IS" a disease of the immune system, as this article suggests, and there have been many more studies that show it "IS" CSS, central sensitization syndrome, it's not just a view. Both are still only hypotheses.
80% women is not up-to-date, recent studies say 50-60% (altho I can't see that myself).
The newspaper article changes "modest efficacy" to "ineffective" treatments and equals "fatigue" with "fibro fog", obviously someone hasn't done their homework.
BUT: Of course it's very interesting. Encouraging also that Goebel (a German at Liverpool university btw) is a pain doc who focusses in chronic pain and: fibromyalgia. So don't ever believe that no researcher cares! (Over 80 studies per month on fibromyalgia in 2021 up to now on pubmed...) Poor mice tho. I hate that. (I hardly ever took any meds at all for that reason before fibro and my cardiovascular problems and feel very unwell still taking stuff for blood fats, but am working on getting rid of them, seeing as I've got those down that are possible with strict diet.)
 
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I don't think this anything other than proof of Mix Connective Tissue Disease also medically acknowledged as caused by antibodies.
 
I don't think this anything other than proof of Mix Connective Tissue Disease also medically acknowledged as caused by antibodies.
I'm not sure that that's accurate? They aren't the same autoantibodies; MCTD presents quite differently, is potentially degenerative, and can usually be confirmed by blood test. Symptoms of the condition (for example arthritis, organ inflammation, breathing problems, high ESR and - specifically - anti-Sm/RNP antibodies in blood work) go against the criteria for fibromyalgia and would lead an investigating doctor in a different direction. I'm also not sure that there's any reason to prove MCTD - it's pretty well documented and defined, only its cause is unknown. If fibro had been MCTD all along, I think that's what we'd all be diagnosed with?
 
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