Fibromyalgia

Jailah Sims
BIO F11X
Larson
Fibromyalgia

For my STEAM project, I have decided to pursue Fibromyalgia. The course object this ties into is “Explain how sensory cells translate a stimulus into an action potential”. My favorite unit this semester has been tissues, so I wanted to research a disease that involves tissues, specifically a disease that you can’t see but can only feel.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic widespread condition that affects 1-5% of our American population (Fibromyalgia). The word Fibro from the Latin root means “fibrous tissue” and -algia, a combining term, meaning “pain” (What is Fibromyalgia). Symptoms that are associated with this disorder are joint stiffness, fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive dysfunction, depression, headaches, poor circulation and tingling in the periphery, and allergies. Fibromyalgia is more common in females than males with a ratio of 2:1, and can occur at any age (Fibromyalgia). In some cases, people can experience this pain after surgeries, intense physical stress, infections, and even severe psychological stress. Although you cannot see fibromyalgia because it does not show as a bruise, bleeding site, or redness, patients who experience this condition get feelings of burning or aching sensations. Some patients even report feeling this pain intensify in cold, wet, or hot climates (What is Fibromyalgia).
Although this condition is not known where it stems from, experts suspect that fibromyalgia is the result of the brain and nervous system failing to process pain signals, causing pain to be amplified. In some studies, brain scans have shown altered pain processing in individuals with fibromyalgia. Researchers have also found deficient levels of serotonin in the nervous system and subsequent imbalance in a spinal fluid involved in pain signaling (What is Fibromyalgia). Usually, when people experience pain the body has experienced some injury or damage. In fibromyalgia, the pain is not so direct, and pain signals come from the affected area being processed differently, rather than a result of direct damage that can be treated (What is Fibromyalgia). When sensory cells translate a stimulus into an action potential there are a few steps. Channels open to send a signal and action potentials are either sent or not. Sodium channels open when they are sent, and sodium gets into the cell causing a spike in the charge in a neuron. This causes the membrane potential to be slightly more positive. Remember there are sodium and potassium channels within a neuron to control the flow of ions (charged particles) in and out of the cell. Sodium goes in and potassium goes out and this keeps it balanced.
An electrical current is created when the neuron becomes more positive and becomes an action potential. Action potentials are created to allow sensory cells to transmit information to other cells in the nervous system. For a brief time, the neuron will go back to its refractory state when potassium channels open allowing ions to leave and restore the electrical balance and bring the cell back to its resting state. Fibromyalgia is a very complex condition that experts are still trying to find the main cause of, this condition affects certain areas of the body that you cannot see but only feel in localized areas. Although there are many conclusions on what causes it, the central idea involves sensory cells in the nervous system not appropriately receiving stimuli to form action potentials but instead receiving them as pain in certain areas. These cells can be triggered by weather, stress, or physical trauma. For my STEAM art project, I decided to draw and outline a picture of a neuron vs an unhealthy neuron, and you can see a difference in the axons and myelin sheath. The unhealthy neuron has a damaged myelin sheath where pathways don’t work, they aren’t communicating and there is loss of feeling, I think this ties in really well with Fibromyalgia and the theory of what causes it. My next piece of art is three different bodies at different angles. I especially highlighted the parts of the body that fibromyalgia patients feel burning and pain sensations. Sometimes it feels like pinches, which is what the red/orange stars represent. The second body that is laid down with the person’s back to us is where some patients may feel bruised or tender areas with fibromyalgia. The third person who is in a crossed position, I wanted to show the joints where Fibromyalgia usually affects. Pain is felt all over and I wanted to associate pain with the colors that represent how they are feeling and what that pain sensations feel like, because in Fibromyalgia you cannot visually see it, only feel.


References
Fibromyalgia: Genetics and epigenetics insights may provide the basis for the development of diagnostic biomarkers. (n.d.). NCBI. Retrieved July 24, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322092/
Lakeview Healthcare System » What is Neuropathy? (2017, February 12). Lakeview Healthcare System. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://lvhcs.com/2017/02/12/what-is-neuropathy/
Mandal, A. (n.d.). What is Fibromyalgia? News-Medical. Retrieved July 24, 2024, from https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Fibromyalgia.aspx
The Science of Fibromyalgia – PMC. (n.d.). NCBI. Retrieved July 24, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258006/
Clauw, D. J., Arnold, L. M., McCarberg, B. H., & FibroCollaborative (2011). The science of fibromyalgia. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 86(9), 907–911. https://doi.org/10.4065/mcp.2011.0206