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Virus & Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a very painful condition that results in body-wide muscular aches and pains. This condition is something of a mystery and is often not understood or is misunderstood. Sometimes it is misdiagnosed as a rheumatic disease, notes Roadback.org, because it mimics other diseases. Symptoms include depression, fatigue, stiffness, sleep disorders, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome and Raynaud's disorder.

  1. Cause

    • The medical community isn't certain what causes fibromyalgia, but there is a good possibility it is promoted by a virus, although the condition may be the outcome of multiple factors. Fibromyalgia has been linked to infections, particularly to Lyme disease, HIV, Hepatitis C, Parvovirus B19, Epstein-Barr, mycoplasma and Chlamydia pneumoniae. Those with these conditions develop symptoms similar to those of fibromyalgia.

    XMRV

    • Wellsphere.com reports that a large number of those who suffer from fibromyalgia, as well as from chronic fatigue syndrome, have xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV. This is a retro-virus, much like HIV, which means that the virus puts its DNA into your genetic cellular makeup. Once you are infected, the virus permanently stays in your body. The presence of this virus makes people susceptible to a range of diseases. Researchers Vincent Lombardi and Judy Mikovitz led the XMRV study at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, Nevada.

    Mystery Transmission

    • No one knows for sure how XMRV is transmitted although it may be through bodily fluids or blood. Furthermore, scientists aren't sure if the presence of fibromyalgia affects the immune system, which allows the virus to be established, or if the virus leads to a weakened immune system, which contributes to fibromyalgia.

    Suppressed Immune System

    • Those who are suffering from fibromyalgia have suppressed immune systems, which makes them an easy target for infection. If you have this condition, you do not have adequate amounts of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which activates natural killer or KN T-cells that fight off sickness. When you don't have enough serotonin, your immune system isn't getting the support it needs.

    Substance P

    • Another irregularity that occurs in fibromyalgia sufferers is an increase in Substance P, which is released into the spinal cord when nerves in the muscles, bone and skin are injured. Levels of this substance are three times higher in those with fibromyalgia, which increases your sensitivity to pain.

    Vicious Cycle

    • The individual with fibromyalgia is lacking in those bodily properties that protect it from infection by a virus, and lack what is needed to maintain a healthy immune system, while also experiencing increased pain due to Substance P, the pain resulting from the presence of a virus that never leaves the body.

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