Fibromyalgia is a hope for millions of people because a new test of intestinal bacteria could help diagnose the condition more quickly

LADY GAGA, Kirsty Young and Morgan Freeman may have, but there was little hope for people with fibromyalgia so far.

This disabling disease affects up to 4% of the population and has no known cure.

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But a new study could, at least, find one of the causes.

Scientists have discovered that people with fibromyalgia have many more species of intestinal bacteria, compared with other people.

And this discovery could be crucial in helping people get faster diagnoses.

They examined the intestinal bacteria of 156 people living in Montreal, Canada – including 77 with fibromyalgia.

They were all questioned before giving samples of poo, blood, saliva and urine, all of which were compared to those of the unaffected.

Intestinal bacteria change with the condition

And they discovered that people with fibromyalgia had a makeup of gut bacteria that was radically different from people who did not have it.

The McGill University Health Center team used artificial intelligence to confirm that bacterial changes were not caused by diet, medications, physical activity, or age.

Using their computer, they were able to diagnose the disease by simply examining their gut microbiome – with nearly 90% accuracy.

"We found that fibromyalgia and the symptoms of fibromyalgia – pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties – contributed more than any other factor to the observed variations in the microbiomes of people with the disease," she said. study, Amir Minerbi, I said.

More pain = more bacterial changes

"We also found that the severity of a patient's symptoms was directly correlated with an increased presence or a more pronounced absence of certain bacteria, which has never been reported before."

For now, scientists still do not understand why people with fibromyalgia would have a different bacterial status.

Since it is a group of symptoms rather than a problem, the next step in the research will be to determine if similar changes in intestinal bacteria are present in any of the patients. 39 other conditions related to chronic pain.

Does the bacterial balance of the bowel cause pain? And if it has an impact on the pain, does that mean that a cure can be on the horizon?

At present, fibromyalgia patients can wait up to five years to get a diagnosis.

The diagnosis of AI is accurate to 87%

But that could be about to change.

Emmanuel Gonzalez, of the McGill team, said his computer was able to make a diagnosis of fibromyalgia based solely on the composition of the intestinal microbiome.

He had an accuracy of 87%.

"As we develop this first discovery with more research, we hope to improve that accuracy, potentially creating a dramatic change in diagnosis," he said.

Scientists will then see if they get similar results from another group of participants.

The findings come after a study published in March revealed that the disease could soon be detected via a simple blood test.

At the time, Luis Rodriguez-Saona, co-author of the study, described the initial results as "remarkable".

They discovered that there were clear profiles in the blood of fibromyalgia patients that distinguished them from those with other disorders.

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