Introduction
When people experience musculoskeletal pain all over their bodies, cannot sleep well, feel fatigued, and observe mood changes, including distress, doctors might develop a suspicion of fibromyalgia. This chronic disorder has an unknown etiology, but its prevalence is more than 5% of the global population, including approximately 2% in the United States (Ruschak et al., 2023; Siracusa et al., 2021). Although people do not have much knowledge about how fibromyalgia might develop, doctors introduce effective treatment and management plans. Fibromyalgia is a condition of vital importance to everyone due to its prevalence, impact on individuals, and implications for healthcare and society.
Fibromyalgia Overview
Clinical features and diagnostic criteria of fibromyalgia depend on how well people know its basics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022), fibromyalgia is “a condition that causes pain all over the body, also called widespread pain” (para. 1). This condition affects about four million Americans, while across the globe, 1 in 20 people might have it (CDC, 2022; Ruschak et al., 2023).
Women aged between 30 and 25 years are at higher risk for developing fibromyalgia than men of the same age (Ruschak et al., 2023). Sometimes, the symptoms can be observed in people after trauma, surgery, or infection. They include pain on both sides of the body that can last more than three months, fatigue, sleep disturbances, restlessness, irritability, and mood changes (Siracusa et al., 2021). Usually, no triggering events are reported when the first clinical features are noticed.
Patient history, physical examination, and blood tests are used to diagnose fibromyalgia. Laboratory tests include a complete blood count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (Qureshi et al., 2021). The pathogenesis of fibromyalgia may be linked to inflammatory, immune, or genetic factors, proving the necessity to check such markers as interleukin or leptin. Still, no difference between healthy and sick people can be challenging (Qureshi et al., 2021). Additional tests are vitamin D, thyrotropin, C-reactive protein, and serum (Qureshi et al., 2021). Doctors may order X-rays, but fibromyalgia can hardly appear on imaging tests.
Impact on Individuals
Physical symptoms of fibromyalgia depend on patients’ medical histories, personal attitudes toward pain, and readiness to cope with discomfort. Some patients experience soreness, stiffness, or shooting in specific body parts, while others cannot describe their feelings. In addition, the moments when pain worsens differ: morning, evening, or all day. Kueny et al. (2021, as cited in Ruschak et al., 2023) report that male patients are surprised by the sporadic nature of widespread pain. The constant pain makes planning and fulfilling their responsibilities difficult.
Negative emotional changes, behavioral inconsistency, suicidal thoughts, and reduced functioning in society, family, or sexual life define the psychological price people with fibromyalgia pay (Galvez-Sánchez et al., 2019). I have a friend whose father suffered from unexplainable pain for six months, did not want to visit a hospital, and often got angry with his son until he got a professional consult and treatment. My relative told me a story of her friend’s mother, who could not live with fibromyalgia-related pain and drowned, and it was concluded that it was her decision not to save herself.
Implications for Healthcare
Today, not many employers are eager to hire people with fibromyalgia because they need more extra time to attend hospitals and manage their pain. American facilities spend about $1 billion annually on hospitalization, while insurance for such people is $9573 (Mukhida et al., 2020, p. 270). Due to its unknown etiology, fibromyalgia progress is hard to predict. Hospitals should focus on treatment costs, including medications and self-care. The main challenge is that one medication or treatment approach does not work for all fibromyalgia symptoms.
Therefore, combining pain relievers, antiseizure medications, and antidepressants is considered. According to Qureshi et al. (2021), opioids and glutamate receptor antagonists are available treatment options, but not many patients respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, proving emerging research trends. More than 350 genes were chosen for research to examine the effectiveness of fibromyalgia and regulate pain (Siracusa et al., 2021). However, the chronicity of the condition promotes poor compliance with long-term treatment options, and therapeutic modifications are expected.
Societal Relevance
Fibromyalgia affects workplace productivity, employment rates, and employee-employer relationships. The ability to work regular hours is reduced in people with this condition, and the number of missing days decreases (Mukhida et al., 2020). Decreased work-related productivity happens because of physical weakness, fears, emotional burnout, and many sick leaves (Galvez-Sánchez et al., 2019).
Qureshi et al. (2021) state that some healthcare providers are poorly aware of fibromyalgia, explaining diagnostic and treatment challenges. It is important to raise people’s knowledge of the disease whose etiology is unclear. In 2016, the American College of Rheumatology criteria was introduced to explain the specifics of the disease (Ruschak et al., 2023). However, clinical investigations are necessary to share recent changes, obtained knowledge, and personal observations.
Conclusion
In general, fibromyalgia is a severe chronic disease affecting human life quality. The paper has properly discussed its higher incidence, unknown etiology, diagnostic specifics, and treatment options. The significance of the research is evident because of poor awareness among the population and healthcare providers. It is not enough to know what fibromyalgia is or how to manage pain; it is more important to help people examine their conditions and predict widespread discomfort to increase workplace productivity and decrease suicidal risks. Fibromyalgia patients need more options to improve their well-being, and researchers and healthcare providers are responsible for making progress possible.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Fibromyalgia. CDC. Web.
Galvez-Sánchez, C. M., Duschek, S., & Reyes Del Paso, G. A. (2019). Psychological impact of fibromyalgia: Current perspectives. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 2019(12), 117-127. Web.
Mukhida, K., Carroll, W., & Arseneault, R. (2020). Does work have to be so painful? A review of the literature examining the effects of fibromyalgia on the working experience from the patient perspective. Canadian Journal of Pain, 4(1), 268-286. Web.
Qureshi, A. G., Jha, S. K., Iskander, J., Avanthika, C., Jhaveri, S., Patel, V. H., Potini, B. E., & Azam, A. T. (2021). Diagnostic challenges and management of fibromyalgia. Cureus, 13(10). Web.
Ruschak, I., Montesó-Curto, P., Rosselló, L., Aguilar Martín, C., Sánchez-Montesó, L., & Toussaint, L. (2023). Fibromyalgia syndrome pain in men and women: A scoping review. Healthcare, 11(2). Web.
Siracusa, R., Paola, R. D., Cuzzocrea, S., & Impellizzeri, D. (2021). Fibromyalgia: Pathogenesis, mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment options update. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(8). Web.