Scientists discover that fibromyalgia is not “all in the head of the patient,” but rather the result of a pathology in the hand palms of the nerve cells around specific blood vessel structures.
Fibromyalgia impacts up to 5 million Americans over the age of 18. It mostly impacts females (up to 80-90% of instances), and is difficult to treat. Fibromyalgia is a disease defined throughout the body by pain and pain.
People with it report’ tender points’ on their throat, shoulders, back, arms, hips, and legs that hurt when they apply pressure. When subjected to cold, the pain increases, particularly during the winter.
To date, physicians have classified fibromyalgia as a psychosomatic disorder, which implies it is caused by emotional variables, and attribute it to the imagination of patients. Research, however, has failed to define the underlying cause of this pain, leaving many doctors to doubt the real roots, or even presence, of this disease.
Now, to the relief of many who suffer from this disease, fresh study has lastly shown that there is no fibromyalgia in the heads of the patients. In reality, it has been found that as a consequence of “excessive sensory nerve fibers around specialized blood vessel structures in the palms of the hands,” fibromyalgia appears.
The research conducted by researchers at Integrated Tissue Dynamics LLC (INTiDYN) discovered that these nerve fibers, which were deemed to only be involved in regulating blood flow in the skin, were also in reality responsible for detecting touch and pain.
In view of this, they performed a second survey to find any pathology that might add to the presence of fibromyalgia in the blood vessel endings. After evaluating skin samples from females suffering from fibromyalgia, they found that there was “an enormous rise in sensory nerve fibers in the skin’s blood vessels at particular locations.”
These nerves are accountable for the heat regulation in our body as part of the shunts of arteriole-venule (AV) by regulating the blood flow in our blood vessels. The shunts close in hot circumstances, forcing blood into the capillaries and surface of the skin in order to release heat from the body.
The shunts open wide in cold circumstances, allowing the veins to bypass the capillaries, thus preserving heat, colding the hands and feet.
Dr. Albrecht, the study’s lead scientist, describes that the reason behind the tender and painful hands among patients with fibromyalgia may be this excess of sensory innervation.
“But, moreover, since the sensory fibers are accountable for opening the shunts, they would become particularly active under cold circumstances that are usually very disturbing to patients with fibromyalgia.” Even if these AV shunts are mainly situated in the hands and feet, they have another significant function that could add to the extensive pain, achiness and exhaustion of fibromyalgia pat.
Dr. Rice, INTIDYN’s chairman, describes that our hands and feet contain much more blood than they need, because they serve as blood reservoirs that can be diverted to other areas of the body if required, and because of the pathology in these shunts, this blood flow is mismanaged.
“The pathology found in the hands among these shunts might interfere with blood flow throughout the body to the muscles. This mismanaged blood flow could be the cause of muscle pain and achiness, and the feeling of fatigue that is believed to be due to a build-up of lactic acid and low concentrations of patients with inflammatory fibromyalgia. “It is nice to understand that there is a potential for finding adequate therapy for individuals with fibromyalgia that has been treated with painkillers and antidepressants so far.
And it’s best to understand that you can be sure that fibromyalgia is genuine and has a true cause behind it that has nothing to do with your mind, instead of thinking you might be going insane.