The pain is not all in the head


Last month, when pop megastar Lady Gaga took to Twitter to reveal that she has fibromyalgia (pronounced fy-bro-my-AL-ja), little did the world know about this long-term condition, which can cause pain all over the body. She has also narrated her painful existence in the Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two.

For the uninitiated, fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome characterised by tenderness and pain in muscles and deep tissues which lasts for months. The other symptoms include chronic fatigue syndrome, headache, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disturbances, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, stress disorders, restless legs syndrome and mental lethargy. “Each patient with fibromyalgia is unique. Any of the above symptoms can occur intermittently and in different combinations,” says Mumbai-based rheumatologist Dr Nalin Shinde.

According to the National Fibromyalgia Association, it affects 3-6 per cent of the world’s population, but barely 0.5 per cent people are aware of it. Also, because it mimics symptoms of other ailments....Read more

 

Source web page: New Indian Express


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