New
Diagnostic for Fibromyalgia
As I was perusing facebook looking at information
on one of the fibromyalgia pages I came across a post about an article that was
about a new diagnostic for fibro. I went to the article which was on a blog and
read what was said. It left me with more questions, so I googled it and found
the abstract and I used that to get to the actual article. I read the paper and
went to the website of the company that is marketing the new diagnostic…so what
is it? Drs. have come up with a blood test that will be able to tell if you
have fibromyalgia. How is this possible with so many different and complicated symptoms
and each individual being different?
The cause of fibromyalgia is still not completely
understood. The way it has been diagnosed
is by using the tender points and if you met the criteria set (11 out of 18
tender points and the patient’s symptoms) then you were diagnosed with a positive
for fibromyalgia. It was seen as a rheumatologic disorder; in other words a fibro-connective
disorder. Today, however, doctors are theorizing that
fibromyalgia comes from the interactions that occur between the autonomic
central nervous system, the immune system, and the hypothalamic -pituitary-
adrenal axis (a region in your brain that is in control of your central nervous
system.) Researchers found abnormalities in the protein molecules called
cytokines in the white blood cells a key part of the immune system. People who have significant lower levels of
the cytokines have fibromyalgia. The new diagnostic, a blood test called FM/a, that
uses a 1-100 point system to determine a diagnosis. In order to have a positive fibromyalgia
diagnosis a patient must score between 50-100.
At this point we must remind ourselves that no test is 100 percent
accurate. The blood test called FM/a is
only available through your doctor or a licensed physician. The test is also a bit expensive ($744.99-US)
and there is the chance that health insurance companies may not cover the
cost. The doctor will take your blood
sample and send it to a privately owned biomedical company called EpicGenetics,
Inc. This company is the one who conducted the clinical trials and are the manufacturers
of the FM/a test. They will send the
results back to your doctor usually within 7 days, who then will discuss the
findings with the patient. The test kit is available for purchase beginning
March 4, 2013. If a person does not have
a licensed physician the company, EpicGenetics Inc., has a licensed physician
on staff. You will have to fill out a questionnaire and if the doctor feels it
warrants taking the test then he will set it up and discuss the findings after
the test results come in.
The trial
research and findings were published December 2012 issue of BMC Clinical
Pathology. Since the publication of the findings the FM Test has received support
from leading experts in the fields of immunology and rheumatology.
After reading
everything, I am excited to know that the researchers have found a common link
that will make it easier to diagnosis fibromyalgia which will give us
credibility that it is a real disease. I
will be excitedly waiting to see how the scientific community reacts and whether
it will be difficult to get health insurance companies to cover the cost. It is important for us, fibromyalgia survivors
to stay informed about fibromyalgia. Thanks to new research, it will only be a
matter of time before the triggers and causes of fibromyalgia are uncovered and
new therapies will be developed.
What are your
thoughts about the new blood test created to diagnose fibromyalgia?
Some facts found on EpicGenetics web page.
5 years, experts say, is how long, until now, it has taken to be finally,correctly and objectively diagnosed with FM.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share your thoughts and feelings. We all benefit from hearing from you.