- Low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin are responsible for symptoms. Serotonin has anxiety-reducing qualities.
- Some studies show that women have seven times less serotonin circulating in their brains than men. This may explain why FM affects more women than men.
- One theory holds that a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury may precipitate FM.
- Some sufferers have been found to have low levels of human growth hormone, contributing to muscle pain.
- Estrogen cessation causes hormonal changes in women, which then may change the way the body responds to pain.
- Stress or poor physical conditioning could be the genesis of pain.
- Some put forth that sleep disorders are at the root of FM. The theory goes that the lack of restorative sleep lowers serotonin levels, which have been known to increase pain sensitivity.Some scientists believe that a person’s genetic makeup has everything to do with the way that person reacts to stimuli. It has been found that people with FM react much more intensely to stimuli that most people wouldn’t find painful or disturbing. It is thought that a person with this particular gene reacts to traumatic events or stressors with a change in the body’s physical response to those disturbing stimuli.
- FM amplifies painful sensations because of the manner in which the brain processes these pain signals.
Whew! That’s a lot to know about FM theories. Now one research study has shown that when the sufferer feels pain or other discomfort, the sensation is real, not an imagined malady. With advances in the medical sciences and scanning techniques, the raging debate as to whether or not FM is really a disease may one day be settled.