Nerve Disorders

Fibromyalgia has emerged as one of the more controversial and prominent disorders of the recent years and decades. It is controversial because many have dismissed it as a perception or form of hypochondria while others have strongly asserted that this is dangerous talk and the disorder is absolutely real. This paper will discuss what the disorder is, who is at risk for it, what the symptoms are and what treatments are available.

While the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia is still somewhat in its nascent stages, there are indeed options that exist and a good many people have come forward as having the disorder. Fibromyalgia is a disorder that manifests in a large amount of pain and something known as allodynia. The latter of those terms refers to a condition whereby pressure and touch becomes much more sensitive than it would be for a regular person as it becomes painful for fibromyalgia patients.

Other symptoms that often present themselves with fibromyalgia are fatigue, inability to sleep consistently and soundly as well as stiffness in the joints. The medical community has not found the cause of fibromyalgia but research is ongoing. The currently accepted theory is that comes from psychological, environmental, biological and heredity. An imbalance of neurochemicals seems to cause the widespread pain associated with fibromyalgia.

Thus, anyone that has the risky genetic codes and environmental factors associated with fibromyalgia are the same people that are the most likely to contract the disorder (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Statistics have confirmed that about five to six million people suffer from the disorder. However, the disorder could actually affect anywhere from two to eight percent of the overall population. Further, the ratio of women to men that have the disorder ranges from about 7:1 to 9:1.

The treatments that seem to work for fibromyalgia at this time depend on the particular manifestation of the disorder. There are currently four general classifications of people that have fibromyalgia. Those four manifestations are extreme sensitivity to pain but with no associated psychiatric conditions, fibromyalgia along with comorbid pain-related depression, depression with concurrent fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia due to mental symptoms manifesting as patient-described physical symptoms even when no verifiable psychiatric or psychological disorder exists.

Based on whatever of those four groups people fall in, the treatment options that exist include medications that block the 5-HT3 receptor (the first classification), antidepressants (the second and third) or psychotherapy (the fourth). In limited instances, cannabis (e.g. marijuana) is a viable solution in areas where it is legal so as to help in the first of the four scenarios above. However, even with the pain that comes with fibromyalgia, there is no death-related prognosis for fibromyalgia.

It is not fatal but it can absolutely leave a person in misery (Mayo.