In addition to serving as a marker for fibromyalgia, he noted, it is also possible that these antibodies are directly involved in initiating or promoting fibromyalgia. The development of a laboratory test for fibromyalgia was welcomed by experts in the field. The fibromyalgia syndrome is common in clinical medicine and in the general community. The findings of this study raise the hopeful prospect that a new test will help us better understand fibromyalgia. Further research is needed to confirm the clinical specificity of the test relative to other painful conditions.
Associated factors appear in parallel in epiphenomena.
If further research shows the production of anti-polymer antibodies to be an epiphenomenon, the antibodies would serve as a laboratory marker for fibromyalgia without playing a direct role in the disease process. Kristin Thorson is president of The Fibromyalgia Network, a patient self-help organization headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, and president of The American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association, a charitable organization dedicated to funding research on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. The first is the lack of an easily performed laboratory test. The second is its recalcitrance to therapy. The promise of a potentially useful diagnostic marker is an exciting development in this field.