Illness-related fibro?
I am enlarging on albinoqueen76 's question about meningitis. I have long suspected that illness-related FM may be related to illnesses that cause inflammation of the brain. Illnesses such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, encephalitis, and menengitis are examples of these illnesses. Perhaps you may be able to think of others. A significant subset of fm patients have a serious illness leading up to the onset of FM (at the same time or within a few months -- - not years).
There is damage or dysfunction at the d2 dopamine receptor in primary FM, that could be caused by illness or could be inborn. I know that encephalitis and Hashimoto's throiditis can cause permanent problems in the production of dopamine (I don't know about meningitis). The instance of Hashmoto's among FM patients is higher than is normal among women. So the evidence for a disease-caused model of at least one form of FM is growing. While researchers have looked at specific illnesses, I have not seen any research models that look at a class of illnesses, such as those that cause inflammation in the brain, as a group. There are separate studies of the small brain damage caused by Hashimoto's thryoiditis and the types of micro- damage that is evident in FM. This is new stuff because it is only recently that it became possible to "map" micro-damage in the brain. But to my knowledge, no one has compared the "map" of FM brain abnormalities to those found in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I caught the research on Hashimoto's, because that is what I had leading up to the onset of my FM.
I wonder how many of us have had such illnesses that seemed to have a relationship to the onset of FM? As I wind my way through the existing research studies -- are there other illnesses folks here may suggest that I should look for?
There is damage or dysfunction at the d2 dopamine receptor in primary FM, that could be caused by illness or could be inborn. I know that encephalitis and Hashimoto's throiditis can cause permanent problems in the production of dopamine (I don't know about meningitis). The instance of Hashmoto's among FM patients is higher than is normal among women. So the evidence for a disease-caused model of at least one form of FM is growing. While researchers have looked at specific illnesses, I have not seen any research models that look at a class of illnesses, such as those that cause inflammation in the brain, as a group. There are separate studies of the small brain damage caused by Hashimoto's thryoiditis and the types of micro- damage that is evident in FM. This is new stuff because it is only recently that it became possible to "map" micro-damage in the brain. But to my knowledge, no one has compared the "map" of FM brain abnormalities to those found in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I caught the research on Hashimoto's, because that is what I had leading up to the onset of my FM.
I wonder how many of us have had such illnesses that seemed to have a relationship to the onset of FM? As I wind my way through the existing research studies -- are there other illnesses folks here may suggest that I should look for?