Imagine the alarm system of your home malfunctioning and going off all the time.
This is similar to the experiences of people with fibromyalgia,
a chronic disease that causes ongoing pain throughout their entire body.
With advances in brain imaging to understand pain in recent decades,
we are better understanding this obscure condition called fibromyalgia.
In fact, a recent study has advanced our understanding of fibromyalgia by demonstrating
the involvement of brain inflammation that could be causing these symptoms.
In today’s video I will uncover these findings
and explain the role of brain inflammation in fibromyalgia.
So, let’s talk about neuroinflammation and fibromyalgia
Before I continue, let me remind you that this
youtube channel is not intended to offer individual health advice to patients.
You should contact your physician if you have any condition or
disease that require medical attention. In case of a medical emergency, go to the
nearest emergency department or call an ambulance. The content of this video is for educational
purposes only. To learn more about
fibromyalgia, please check my previous video. Experiencing pain as a mechanism of survival,
however fibromyalgia is a condition where the pain system becomes sensitized and experiences
pain even from stimulations that were not previously painful and are not painful for others.
In fibromyalgia, there is also more production of a certain neurotransmitter, called glutamate.
The areas of the brain that are affected by these sensitizations and overproduction of glutamate are
also involved in mood, sleep, concentration, and memory, which is perhaps why fibromyalgia is also
associated with thinking difficulties, fatigue, and trouble sleeping. The person is insomniac
at night and fatigued during the day. There is one theory behind fibromyalgia
that invovles neuroinflammation, or the idea that brain inflammation plays a role in fibromyalgia.
While inflammation may be a necessary immune response for healing, occurring in response to
an injury, damage or an infection, chronic inflammation becomes damaging on itself.
Inflammation was invented to promote healing and cure. But chronic inflammation does the
opposite, it keeps damaging the tissue where it is happening.
Up until now, it has been difficult to understand the relationship between neuroinflammation and
fibromyalgia because it is hard to see and measure neuroinflammation in humans. But thanks to recent
technological advances in neuroimaging and techniques that have beeb developed,
we are getting closer and closer to validating these theories about chronic disorders.
What is neuroinflammation?
Before I tell you the answer, did you know that my book 8 STEPS TO CONQUER CHRONIC PAIN
has many QR codes that link to my YouTube videos? I have many videos about exercises,
nutrition, sleep and much more. Order your book today.
When you buy the book, you can get the journal free of charge. Just click on this link below,
send a proof that you bought the book. This could be your picture holding the book,
and I’ll send you the PDF of this journal for you to print at home.
The journal was created for you to document your journey conquering your chronic pain,
and it has spaces for you to answer the questions that I pose in the book.
So, what is neuroinflammation? First let us break down how neuroinflammation
in the brain occurs and how we see it. Certain cells in the brain, called glial cells,
are how we are able to see and measure neuroinflammation. Glial cells play many
roles in the brain, supporting the structure and functions of neurons, or brain cells. An important
role of glial cells in the brain is immunity, and so when glial cells are activated, they trigger
inflammation. So, then, it is assumed that if there is high glial activation in the brain,
this is an indication of neuroinflammation. How can we measure neuroinflammation?
Positron emission tomography or PET scans are one way of measuring glial cell activation,
where radioactive tracers containing glucose, the brain’s fuel, are injected
and directed towards the brain. Later these tracers are identifiable through PET scans,
demonstrating which regions in the brain consumed the tracer as fuel the most.
The regions that did so demonstrate that they were more active, suggesting glial
cell activation and inflammation. Neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia:
Recent studies confirm that in fibromyalgia patients, compared to healthy controls,
there is more widespread glial activation and in turn more neuroinflammation around the brain.
Higher signals of tracers suggesting more activation in many regions of the brain may
provide an explanation for the experience of fibromyalgia, where pain is experienced in so
many different areas in the body. The activated microglia also release pro-inflammatory mediators
in the brain that sensitize pain pathways. Furthermore, higher activation of microglia in
some regions of the brain has been demonstrated in these studies to be correlated with severe
fatigue, a symptom of fibromyalgia. This was the first set of findings to demonstrate visualized
neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia patients. These findings further cement the evidence in favour of
the neuroinflammation theory of fibromyalgia, suggesting that chronic inflammation in the
brain overactivates and sensitizes the individual to pain and negative symptoms.
Watch my other video about central sensitization here.
The neuroinflammation that induces fibromyalgia can be a result of many
different experiences, both occurring within the body,
or outside of the body such as someone experiencing a traumatic head injury.
Implications of neuroinflammation theory:
What is important to recognize here, is that understanding the neuroinflammation
theory of fibromyalgia can have very significant implications in better
understanding this mysterious condition and developing novel therapies for fibromyalgia.
In a simple diagram, imagine that higher glial activation and more neuroinflammation
are increasing the volume of all senses, including pain, in fibromyalgia. Such an
understanding would allow us to explore treatments for the disorder from the root cause. Rather than
having to focus on reducing the pain, which is hypothetically a result of the neuroinflammation,
with drugs such as opioids that may have negative side effects, we can instead focus on the root
cause of neuroinflammation and decrease the volume of glial cell activation, in turn reducing the
sensitization that occurs in fibromyalgia. Other modalities:
Better understanding the relationship of neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia also allows
us to focus on other modalities of treatment as well. We can focus more on our diet to reduce
the inflammatory foods that we consume and eat healthier for our brain. I also review
anti-inflammatory food diets for chronic pain in another video on my channel so make sure to
check it out if you want a less-inflammatory diet. So, understanding how activation in the brain is
inducing fibromyalgia, we can make many lifestyle changes to cut off or reduce
the activation of those glial cells that occur in a disruptive manner.
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If you have any questions, write in the comments below and leave your questions.
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and if you also have any suggestions for future topics, please provide them in the comments and
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videos to stay updated. Thank you and bye for now