Johns Hopkins Health Alert
The Challenge of Diagnosing Fibromyalgia Syndrome
In this excerpt from our Special Report Understanding and Managing Fibromyalgia Syndrome, fibromyalgia specialist Dr. I. Jon Russell talks about the challenge of diagnosing fibromyalgia.
Q. At one time, some doctors considered fibromyalgia syndrome a "wastebasket" diagnosis or even dismissed it as a psychosomatic illness. Have doctors become more open to diagnosing fibromyalgia syndrome in patients with widespread body pain?
Dr. Russell: I regularly lecture about fibromyalgia syndrome to medical professional groups, and I've found that most doctors are open to learning about the condition. That said, there is still a small cadre of doctors who were not taught about fibromyalgia syndrome in medical school and don't believe it is a real illness. Those doctors will probably never change their minds. However, I've found that many younger doctors are willing to make the fibromyalgia syndrome diagnosis, are empathetic toward fibromyalgia syndrome patients, and are doing a good job at helping them.
Q. Why does it take years for most fibromyalgia syndrome patients to receive an accurate diagnosis?
Dr. Russell: It should be the job of every gatekeeper -- family practitioners and those who practice general internal medicine -- to think about fibromyalgia syndrome when they are evaluating patients with body pain. The problem is, they often don't. Because they may be oriented against the condition, they may fail even to consider that fibromyalgia syndrome is the cause of their patients' pain.
I think there is a systematic avoidance among some doctors of focusing on pain. Because of their training, they have not been as well prepared to understand and deal with body pain. In addition, with fibromyalgia syndrome, they must develop an understanding of the comorbidities of this disorder, including headaches, chest wall pain, irritable bowel syndrome with intermittent cramping and diarrhea and irritable bladder.
Even when doctors do recognize and diagnose fibromyalgia syndrome, they often feel that they don't have the resources to help the patient. Moreover, they may be loath to identify a disorder that leaves them feeling impotent in their ability to care for it.
As little as 10 years ago, most doctors felt this way. However, now that we have a number of effective medications, doctors need to better educate themselves about fibromyalgia syndrome and its treatment so they can offer their patients some real hope of relief.
Posted in Arthritis on April 18, 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
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