Myalgias: Fibromyalgia - Essay Example

"Myalgias: Fibromyalgia" is an engrossing example of a paper on symptoms.
Three criteria exist that a patient must meet to set up a working diagnosis for Fibromyalgia (Häuser & Wolfe, 2012). First, the patient must experience excessive pain with the index of more than seven on the WPI scale. Under this criterion, the patient must also record a level of less than five on the symptom severity index. This level is interchangeable with a score of between three and six on the WPI scale or level of less than nine on the symptom severity index. Second, the patient’s symptoms must have been experienced at equal intensities for a minimum of three months. Lastly, the patient must not have an illness that would otherwise account for the pain (Arnold, Clauw, & McCarberg, 2011).

There are no specific tests for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Recent guidelines by the American College of Rheumatology do not require doctors to check for particular spots on the patient’s body that are in anguish (Häuser & Wolfe, 2012). When these guidelines were in use, doctors told their patients that the painful areas their bodies were inconsistent. As a result, applying pressure to different parts of their bodies using hands was necessary. I would tell my patient to relax and inform me of which areas are more painful than others are by using the WPI index.

Since then, the tender spot exam has been reserved for patients who have been experiencing pain for less than three months without a causal condition. As a result, the most common diagnostic test for Fibromyalgia is ruling out other possible conditions (Fitzcharles, Mary-Ann, Ste-Marie, & Pereira, 2013). Examples of conditions that share symptoms with Fibromyalgia are Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis. Ruling out allows me to use the diagnostics tests of Multiple Sclerosis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to determine whether my patient has Fibromyalgia.

I would confidently tell my patient I am conducting diagnostic tests such as blood and urine tests before deducing that he or she has Fibromyalgia. These tests comprise of urine and blood tests, and occasional x-ray evidence. However, this does not mean that blood tests can confirm Fibromyalgia. Blood tests that provide full blood count, white blood cell sedimentation rates, and thyroid function functions make up for feasible information for diagnosing Fibromyalgia.

The FM test is an uncommon diagnostics test for Fibromyalgia that requires blood test samples and results. First introduced by EpicGenetics, the FM trial, or FM/a analysis, uses a number of biomarkers and centres on chemokine and cytokine. According to EpicGenetics, the FM/a analysis is 93% delicate and more precise than diagnostic trials from mirror illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (U.S. News & World Report, 2012). However, this diagnostics test has received widespread criticism from researchers and general medical practitioners because of its side effects and success rates. Patients often complain of discomfort and lack of attention from doctors applying this test that act as risk factors. Since a number of studies show that sufferers of Fibromyalgia exhibit lower levels of chemokine and cytokine, the FM/a analysis remains a practical diagnostic procedure for Fibromyalgia patients.

Fibromyalgia has risk factors that include the history of fibromyalgia, a rheumatoid illness, and sex. A patient from a family with a history of fibromyalgia will most likely develop the condition. Similarly, suffering from a rheumatic disease increases the odds of getting fibromyalgia for the respective patient. Lastly, statistically, women are more likely to get fibromyalgia than men are (U.S. News & World Report, 2012).