Fighting Back Against Fibro Neglect
– See What AFSA is Doing
Home | Treatment & Research News
Many physicians’ websites list fibromyalgia as a condition they do not treat, and the trend is growing. These sites are dismissive of us, claiming we do not fall into their medical specialty. How convenient, since no one knows what causes fibromyalgia, let alone who should be treating it.
AFSA is pushing back against this discriminatory practice by funding new fibromyalgia research studies in 2024, 2025 and 2026 that will favorably impact your care. We initiated eight studies since June of 2024, and two projects just concluded (the data will soon be published). And this is just the beginning; AFSA hopes to fund five more studies in 2027 to keep the momentum going.
As you read through the project highlights below, we hope you feel more optimistic about your future. Our vision is that someday soon, all doctors will happily diagnose and treat this disease. Please join AFSA’s quest to identify blood markers for diagnosing fibromyalgia and develop treatments that work. It’s the only way to fight the neglect of people with fibromyalgia.
Immune Targets for Treatment
When researchers transfer IgG from fibromyalgia patients to mice, the animals develop pain and fibromyalgia-like symptoms. IgG from healthy people does not cause the same reaction. These patient autoantibodies appear to gather around nerve hubs that help regulate pain signals entering the spinal cord.
In this study, researchers will pinpoint exactly where these autoantibodies attach to nerve hubs. This could help scientists develop future treatments that block the autoantibodies from increasing pain.
The team will also look for blood-based clues—such as autoantibody targets, gut barrier changes, and inflammation—that may explain why symptoms differ from person to person. By grouping patients based on what may be driving their symptoms, this project could move fibromyalgia treatment beyond today’s trial-and-error approach and closer to personalized care. More details
Tracking Whole-Body Inflammation
Researchers often link fibromyalgia to altered pain processing in the central nervous system (CNS). But neurons may not act alone; activated glial cells can release inflammatory substances. This study looks beyond the CNS to ask whether inflammation in muscles and other tissues also helps drive widespread pain.
Standard blood tests do not show clear inflammation in people with fibromyalgia. They also cannot identify which tissues may be involved. This project uses whole-body imaging with a special marker to detect inflammatory processes that regular tests miss.
Researchers will compare immune activation in painful body areas with the pain people report in those same areas. If the two match, the findings could show that fibromyalgia symptoms reflect detectable changes in the body. They could also point researchers toward treatments that target inflammation outside the CNS. More details
Novel Fibro Treatment
If only you could tune your brain to work the way it should. That’s the goal of this study using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The protocol packs the power of a 30-minute session into 3 minutes so the entire treatment only takes four days. The technique is used successfully to treat other conditions but this will be the first time it is used for fibromyalgia.
The trial is expected to show TMS is an effective way of improving the fibromyalgia symptoms of pain, cognitive issues, and fatigue. It will also determine how TMS works in patients by measuring changes in the brain, spinal cord, and immune system function. More details
Is Your Brain Barrier Impaired?
Immune reactive proteins in your blood (called cytokines) can impair the integrity of your blood-brain barrier (BBB). This study examines the role of cytokines and a porous BBB in producing your symptoms of pain, sleep disturbances, and fatigue. If a leaky BBB is confirmed, it offers proof that substances in the blood are disrupting brain function and that fibromyalgia is a serious disease.
Another study goal is to identify the cytokines related to key fibromyalgia symptoms. This can advance patient care in two ways. First, it becomes the starting point for identifying blood biomarkers. And second, it paves the way for developing new treatments that block specific cytokines, such as those used for inflammatory diseases. More details
What Causes Symptom Flares?
Do the malfunctions in your brain or the disruptions in your immune system drive your fibromyalgia flare episodes?1 Answering this question brings us closer to identifying the underlying cause of this disease, which is the project goal.
The brain-immune system dynamics will be measured before, during and after a major symptom flareup. This study is like looking at a video (not just a snapshot) of the processes as they unfold and the research team suspects elements of the immune system will play a flare-triggering role. If so, this will lead to therapies targeting the immune system as well as potential biomarkers for disease severity. More details
Predicting Who Benefits from Cannabis
Cannabis can relieve pain and enhance sleep, but the response varies.2 Roughly 25 percent of fibromyalgia patients are believed to reap substantial benefits while others only experience side effects. This randomized controlled trial involving 150 patients will estimate the efficacy of cannabis oil in fibromyalgia, and much more.
The gut bacteria (or microbiota) are significantly altered in fibromyalgia patients and can influence the response to medications. So, each patient’s symptoms along with the composition of their microbiota will be used to develop a prediction tool to identify who is most likely to benefit from the drug. In addition, measuring the microbiota before and after the three-month trial will determine if gut microbes change with symptom improvements. This could lay the groundwork for targeted microbiota therapy. More details
Neutrophils as a Biomarker
Neutrophils are your immune system’s front-line defense against pathogens. Preliminary evidence shows they behave differently in fibromyalgia because they are in an activated state and appear to be sensitizing neurons to cause pain.3 And it remains unclear what other symptoms your misbehaving neutrophils might be causing.
This study explores how the neutrophils are altered in patients and will correlate this with key fibromyalgia symptoms. It also examines the proteins they use to signal other cells in the immune system and the nearby neurons. These proteins can provide insight into disease mechanisms and, hopefully, serve as a fibromyalgia signature or biomarker. More details
Promising Treatment Trial Results
Cranial electrical stimulation (CES) uses a hand-held device to emit a pulsating current through clips attached to the earlobes. It’s FDA-cleared for treating insomnia and is believed to work by improving brain function. But can this device relieve fibromyalgia pain, fatigue, and sleep disruption?
This trial’s preliminary data shows CES reduces fibromyalgia pain and leads to favorable changes in the brain. Once all the results are officially published, we will report on them in the Projects Funded section of the website. The next step will be to get insurance companies to cover the cost of the device ($840). More details
We Are Just Getting Started …
Want to launch more fibromyalgia research projects like those funded in 2024, 2025, and 2026? We do too but need your help to fight back against decades of fibromyalgia neglect. We are a group of patients and family members volunteering our time. Please consider donating to AFSA (whatever you can afford) so that we can continue to fund patient relevant projects. More than 90 percent of your donation dollars go to research. We have a Four-Star rating with Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal from Guidestar/Candid to help you give with confidence.
Don’t Miss a Beat on New Treatments & Research: Sign up for a Free Membership today.
References for Fighting Fibro Neglect
- Gomez-Arguelles JM, et al. Reumatologia 60(4):242-246, 2022. Free Report
- Boehnke KF, et al. Anesth Analg 138(1):5-15, 2024. Free Article
- Caxaria S, Sikandar S, et al. PNAS 120(17):e2211631120, 2023. Free Report