Fibromyalgia – The Importance Of Awareness

Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness that causes fatigue and intense pain. It is seen as a condition rather than a disease and is associated with many different symptoms. This condition is characterized by extensive pain in the muscles, ligaments and joints. In addition it can cause tenderness in various body points and extreme fatigue.

Why Is Awareness Of Fibromyalgia Important?

Fibromyalgia can often be difficult to diagnose despite the estimate that 1 in every 50 people in America are suffering from it. Because the symptoms mirror so many other conditions, many people never even get a diagnosis. Public awareness can help to change this by raising money for funding research to expand our knowledge about fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia sufferers often look perfectly healthy on the outside while suffering chronic pain on the inside and because of this, their quality of life is deeply affected. Sufferers believe that raising awareness can help to bring about a cure for this condition and hopefully a greater partnership with the medical profession.

Research Funding

Donations are needed to fund fibromyalgia research. However, this condition is not well known by the public and therefore it does not attract a lot of public sympathy despite the widespread impact it has. Researchers want to understand why fibromyalgia sufferers have an increased sensitivity to pain and why women in particular are affected. As there is currently no cure for this condition, researchers are trying to examine factors such as stress, exercise and sleep in an attempt to understand the triggers better and to suggest new coping methods and treatments.

Patient Advocacy

One of the aspects of increasing fibromyalgia awareness is the need to increase patient advocacy. There is a lot of secrecy with this condition as it does not have any outward signs and is not well known. People feel self conscious to talk about a condition that involves a lot of generalized pain and has no definite cause or treatment. As sufferers are not always believed, even by their own doctors, it can lead to depression. It is hard enough being ill without having to prove your illness. Fibromyalgia sufferers need to organize themselves and other members of the public to increase awareness about this condition. Through support groups and charities, events can help to raise money and public knowledge at the same time.

Medical Training

Despite the millions of sufferers, many fibromyalgia support groups claim that medical schools are not adequately training their graduates to recognize and treat this ailment. They believe that public opinion and campaigning can influence teaching universities to spend more time on this area. New doctors should have a better knowledge of fibromyalgia, its symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. It is through these changes that doctors will begin to recognize the reality of fibromyalgia and this recognition will then impact positively in the research field.