Why do leukocytes increase in fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia – also known as fibromyalgia syndrome – is a chronic, often therapy-resistant disease. Those affected suffer from severe pain that occurs in different locations.
They often manifest themselves in the muscles, the joints or on the back. In addition to characteristic accompanying symptoms such as exhaustion, fibromyalgia leads to leukocyte values that rise above the normal limit. The reason is that the phenomenon belongs to the rheumatic diseases. In these autoimmune diseases, the antibodies multiply to stop the inflammatory process in the body.
Fibromyalgia – how and why does it occur?
The outdated name of the clinical picture was “generalized tendomyopathy”, GTM for short. Fibromyalgia is associated with throbbing pain and tenderness. Likewise, patients suffer from:
- morning stiffness,
- Sleep disorders,
- Fatigue,
- Feelings of swelling in hands and face
- as well as lack of concentration and drive.
Physicians do not equate the clinical picture with the term “soft tissue rheumatism”. However, it is one of the health complications that the collective term includes. In the chronic disease, the pain occurs in the muscles and connective tissue. In addition, those affected complain about special pain points, the “tender points”. Translated, fibromyalgia means “fibre-muscle pain”.
Doctors do not yet know the definitive causes of the phenomenon. However, they suspect that genetic components play a role. The hypothesis is based on the fact that fibromyalgia tends to run in families. If the doctors find no cause of the disease, they speak of idiopathic fibromyalgia. If the condition results from an underlying disease, such as an infection, it is secondary fibromyalgia.
The disease often exists as an immunity-related consequence. If it occurs in the course of an infection, increased leukocytes indicate fibromyalgia. The number of white blood cells in the patient rises above the normal limit because the body is trying to fight internal inflammation.
Why does the leukocyte count increase in fibromyalgia?
Belonging to the group of rheumatic diseases , fibromyalgia is accompanied by leukocyte counts above the normal range. In adult patients, the normal limit is between 4,000 and 10,000 white blood cells in one microliter of blood. If the leukocytes increase in fibromyalgia, this points to the inflammatory nature of the disease. Due to a disturbance in the central nervous system, those affected experience increased pain in muscle and joint fibers.
If inflammation occurs in the joint area, caused by foreign bodies, pathogens or overload, the pain sensation multiplies. On average, women develop the health complication nine times more often than men.
If you suffer from stabbing pain, the localization of which changes for no apparent reason, inform your family doctor immediately. In order to make a diagnosis, he takes a blood test in the course of the anamnesis. In doing so, it controls the concentration of the types of white blood cells, with the main focus being on the lymphocytes.
The persistent pain stimulus puts a heavy strain on the body’s immune system. In order to strengthen these, the organism produces more white blood cells.
According to this, excessive leukocytes in fibromyalgia represent a defense process. However, the body’s “self-healing powers” often have no influence on the fibrous-muscle pain. Your body only maintains the constant overproduction of defense cells for a certain period of time. After that, the number of white blood cells decreases until leukopenia occurs under certain circumstances.
Improving the immune system as an aid against fibromyalgia
An alternative treatment for fibromyalgia is microimmunotherapy, or MIT for short. Doctors try to strengthen the body’s defenses directly. Therefore, the therapy aims to bring the reduced number of leukocytes in fibromyalgia into the normal range.
First, microimmunotherapists do blood tests that determine the types of white blood cells. Specifically, they focus on lymphocyte typing. With the help of microimmunotherapeutic agents, they try to support the patient’s own immune system.
This works through the composition of the medicines. These include, for example, immune messengers, the cytokines. Delivered in special sequences, these correspond to the way the body’s defenses react. As a result of the treatment measures, those affected benefit from an improvement in the side effects. The strengthened immune system prevents fatigue, digestive disorders and reduces the sensation of pain.
It is also worth promoting the immune system through a healthy lifestyle, lots of sleep and exercise. If you suffer from pulsating muscle and joint pain, wait for “pain breaks”, for example. In these, you can go for a slow walk or take a short ride on your bike. This will prevent the muscles from stiffening, which leads to additional pain.
Patient tips for treating fibromyalgia
In order to treat the fiber-muscle pain, physicians and therapists are pursuing four approaches. The first step is to “reprogram” the body’s pain memory. To do this, the doctors interrupt processes from which the pain becomes chronic. For example, this is done with painkillers or relieving pain therapy. The treatment also aims to restore the disturbed function of the musculoskeletal system. For this purpose, patients take part in physical therapy or muscle relaxation exercises.
Acupuncture or electrostimulation therapy help to stabilize the body’s own pain control. The persistent joint and muscle pain has a negative effect on the psyche of the sufferer. Therefore, psychotherapy is one of the necessary treatment measures. In the sessions you will learn, for example, how to deal with the pain and receive advice on social reintegration.
