Previously, researches believed fibromyalgia to be a psychological problem. Approximately 20 years ago, it was believed to be a change in the way the brain processed pain, causing hyperactivity in pain centres, although the cause was unknown.
Now researchers have gone one step back and discovered something that may cause the hyperactivity in your brain.
Your hands... sounds too simple to be true? The culprit is thought to be our arteriole venule shunts. How do they work? They work to keep our hands and nerves at the right temperature, kind of how a car radiator works. In warm conditions, the shunts close, which forces blood into the capillaries at the skin surface to radiate heat from the body. Under cold conditions, the shunts open allowing blood to bypass the capillaries to conserve heat, which is why our hands get cold.
Excessive nerve fibers concentrated in these areas are thought to cause mismanaged blood flow, causing muscle pain, acheyness and hyperactivity in the pain centre of the brain.
So does it explain all our symptoms? Probably not. Is it an important breakthrough? Yes. It shows progress.
It means we are one step closer to figuring out how this madness began and how we might cure it or ease the suffering from it.
Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112879104/fibromyalgia-is-not-all-in-your-head-new-research-confirms/
