Clinical Features Epidemiology Overlapping Symptoms Genetics Etiology Pathogenesis Abnormalities in Sensory Processing Other Areas of Dysfunction Behavioral Factors Summary Genetics Fibromyalgia and related syndromes occur in families, pointing to a likely genetic predisposition. There is some evidence of familial aggregation for nearly all of the illnesses within the spectrum, including fibromyalgia. Family members of patients with fibromyalgia display a higher than expected frequency of fibromyalgia, as well as conditions related to fibromyalgia, including irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, and mood disorders.
Stressors can break down the body making it vulnerable to diseases.
Like many illnesses, the expression of fibromyalgia may occur when a person who is genetically predisposed comes in contact with certain environmental exposures that can trigger the development of symptoms. To review, in 1990 and 1991 the U.S. deployed approximately 700,000 troops to the Persian Gulf to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. This experience was not unique to U.S. troops, since veterans of this conflict from the United Kingdom experienced a similar increase in this spectrum of illness. Several expert panels have been convened to examine these illnesses. And there is no single environmental exposure that is likely to have contributed to this illness.