It is believed that as much as one in 50 people suffer from fibromyalgia. Another interesting fact about this disease is that more that 85% of the patients suffering from this disorder are actually women. Still, man and children can also be affected. Most of the diagnosis are made on people who are in their middle age, but symptoms can be present through a long period, since youth.



A certain category of people have been classified as being more likely to have fibromylagia. Persons suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis have seam to be increasingly more likely to develop the disorder.

Genetics also seams to play a role in the development of fibromylagia. Women are increasingly more likely to have the disease if one of the family members already has it. Causes are still unknown, be they hereditary or environmental factors. An increased study in genes is trying to clarify if some people are more predisposed in fibromylagia than others.

Exact causes that determine the appearance of the disease are still unknown. A number of factors are suspected of being the triggers of the disease. Some people believe that the decisive factor is an intense physical ore emotional stressful even ( such as an automobile crash). Other seam to prefer the term  of repetitive injuries. Some doctors link it to an illness. In any case, it seems that people with certain rheumatoid symptoms or autoimmune diseases are particularly likely to develop fibromyalgia. To make matters even more complicated some people just come down with the disease spontaneously.

Other causes are also thoroughly researched, such as problems in the processing of the pain in the central nervous system of the human ( the brain and the spinal cord).

Certain genes are suspected to cause the way some people deal wit hand react to pain. The way people regulate the way they feel the pain is very different from one person to another. According to some scientists people suffering from fibromyalgia  seem to have a gene or certain genes that basicly makes them react in a very strong way towards stimuli that others may not perceive as painful.  Still, if the genes actually exist, scientist have not yet been able to properly identify them.

Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be a little bit tricky. Patients suffering from the disorder see many doctors before being given a correct diagnose. One of the most important facts why this is so, is because of the overlapping of the pain and fatigue ( the main and most common symptoms) with other conditions. Doctors have to rule out , one by one , potential cause before properly interpreting all the symptoms and giving a proper diagnose of fibromyalgia. Another reason would be that there are still no laboratories equipped with the specific machinery to deal with the diagnosing of the disease. Physiologic reason are always ruled out by standard laboratory tests. Again a sad fact about correctly diagnosing fibromyalgia is that some doctors say that it is all in the mind of the person, or that is little they can actually do.