Does Fibromyalgia Run in the Family?

One of the questions I have been seeing a lot lately is whether Fibromyalgia is hereditary or not. So Does Fibromyalgia Run in the Family? Well there are several studies showing some answers to this question.

Even though fibro doesn’t seem to actually pass directly from Father/Mother to Son/Daughter, many studies are showing the odds of being diagnosed with this condition is much higher of those that have immediate family with fibromyalgia. With those observation in mind, it suggests that fibroymalgia does have some hereditary factors to consider.

Recent studies show that there are a number of genes from the DNA within family members with chronic pain that could help explain why these conditions seem to run in families. The genes each have their own role in your nervous system’s response to things that hurt, like pressure and heat. A few of these same genes have also been associated with depression and anxiety, which could be the reason some antidepressant medicines have helped to reduce fibro symptoms.

Researchers still trying to connect differences in a person’s pain level to the particular variants of specific genes. A variant of the gene that determines how well nerve cells recycle the neurotransmitter serotonin has already been associated with heightened pain sensitivity.

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