Fibromyalgia

Link Between Seronegative RA and Fibromyalgia

The phenome-wide relationship studies (PheWAS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients identifies a strong link between seronegativity and fibromyalgia, according…
rheumatologynews.com|By Rheumatology News

First there was GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study). Now there’s PheWAS.

So, what does one make of such associations that get thrown up? For an FM-sceptic (cynic even) like me, I wonder if many of the SNRA may simply be just FM.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients with fibromyalgic clinical features have significantly less synovitis as defined by power Doppler ultrasound

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) clinical measures of disease activity may not reliably discriminate between patients with active inflammatory disease and those with concomitant fibromyalgia (FM). Recent work has shown RA patients with a 28 tender joint count (TJC) minus swollen joint coun…
bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com

Fibromyalgia exaggerates RA disease activity. Ultrasound paints a more accurate picture of the actual inflammatory burden. The treatment of FM differs significantly from that of inflammation. Ultrasound at the point of care is indispensable to guide appropriate and best care.

Patients with SpA-FM may have overestimated disease activity

In patients with spondyloarthritis affected by concomitant fibromyalgia, researchers found disease activity as measured by the Bath Ankylosing…
healio.com

Fibromyalgia will inadvertently exaggerate disease activity assessments which use outcome measures more heavily weighted on patient reported outcomes (PRO), compared to those weighted towards more objective measures like physical examination and laboratory tests.
However, it is being increasingly demonstrated that PROs are more sensitive in detecting disease flares and inflammatory activity that matter: those which lead eventually to joint damage and disability.
The ideal balanced Disease Activity Indices in the rheumatic diseases remain a work in progress.

Fibromyalgia – Should Internists Manage a Contested Illness?

The current issue of ACP Internist discusses the considerable dissent among the medical community about fibromyalgia (FM), its cause, diagnosis and care. This review addresses many concerns with input from well-known experts in rheumatology.
rheumnow.com

I’m sure rheumatologists the world over will welcome internists and primary care physicians with open arms to share in the care of patients with Fibromyalgia.