July 31, 2026, 11:37 am | Read time: 5 minutes
Fibromyalgia often means great suffering and burden for patients. So far, there is no treatment that helps all affected individuals equally. Prominent figures like Lady Gaga have described how closely their physical pain is linked to their psychological distress. Now researchers have deciphered the biological roots of the disease, offering patients hope for faster relief.
Researchers Discover Risk Factors for Fibromyalgia
When Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman1 talks about “terrible pain” in his arm or pop star Lady Gaga documents her public battle against a “loss of control of the nervous system,” a disease that often torments millions in silence comes into the spotlight: fibromyalgia. For a long time, sufferers faced the false claim that their symptoms were purely psychological or nonexistent. Recent research shows that fibromyalgia largely shares the same genetic basis as irritable bowel syndrome or post-traumatic stress disorder. Patients could be treated more quickly in the future.
Celebrities Give Fibromyalgia a Voice
“I am so angry at these pains, at everything I’m going through,” revealed Lady Gaga in her 2017 Netflix documentary “Gaga: Five Foot Two.”2 The singer was seen struggling with severe muscle pain throughout her body. In fibromyalgia, also called fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), chronic pain occurs in multiple body regions. The term translates to “fiber muscle pain.” Sufferers endure symptoms for at least three months. Often, the pain is accompanied by severe fatigue, sleep disturbances, and concentration problems, known as brain fog.
FMS has been difficult to diagnose, as neither standard blood tests nor X-rays provide a clear diagnosis. To make the disease more tangible, the team led by Isabel Kerrebijn from the University of Toronto analyzed the genetic material of about 54,000 fibromyalgia patients. They compared the results with data from over 2.5 million healthy control subjects from 11 international databases. This allowed researchers to identify tiny genetic variations that occur significantly more often in affected individuals. The study was published in the journal “Nature Medicine.”3
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Almost All Discovered Risk Genes Have One Thing in Common
Researchers located the biological roots of the disease deep within the central nervous system. They identified 26 fixed locations on the DNA of affected individuals that increase the risk of fibromyalgia. Many of the discovered genes regulate the development and function of nerve cells or are involved in processing pain signals.
The strongest genetic connection was found in the HTT gene, which is also responsible for Huntington’s disease. In fibromyalgia, it seems to significantly affect pain processing in the central nervous system.
Genetic Basis Like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, PTSD, and Back Pain
Additionally, FMS patients showed extremely high genetic similarities with back pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and irritable bowel syndrome. This means that those with a genetic predisposition for one condition have a significantly increased risk for the others due to shared biological roots in the nervous system. Incidentally, women are significantly more likely to be affected than men.
Researchers also explain why fibromyalgia patients often suffer from many other issues simultaneously. The affected genes apparently influence many different traits at once. The same genetic root can manifest as fibromyalgia in one person, irritable bowel syndrome in another, or PTSD. For example, Lady Gaga spoke not “just” about pain but about a cycle of trauma and panic. The study also shows that heritability is particularly concentrated in regions like the hippocampus.
Limitations of the Study
Despite the promising results, the study has weaknesses. Most participants were from Europe, so the findings cannot be easily generalized to other populations. Additionally, researchers identified fibromyalgia based on diagnoses in patient records. This could mean some individuals were mistakenly classified as fibromyalgia patients, while others with the condition were not recognized. Further studies are needed.
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Previously Suspected Risk Factors for Fibromyalgia
Even though doctors have long suspected a “functional disorder of pain processing in the brain” as the cause of fibromyalgia, the official S3 patient guideline from 2017 still lacks a clear biological cause. The guideline, currently being revised, states that the exact causes are unknown and explicitly mentions “no FMS gene.”4,5 The study fundamentally challenges this.
The S3 guideline from German professional societies lists the following risk factors for fibromyalgia syndrome:
- Inflammatory rheumatic diseases
- FMS in parents or first-degree relatives
- Smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity
- Physical abuse in childhood and adulthood
- Sexual abuse in childhood and adulthood
- Workplace stress
Previously Difficult Diagnosis Could Soon Be History
Fibromyalgia was added to the official list of diseases by the World Health Organization in 1994. There is currently no treatment that helps all affected individuals equally. The diagnosis remained a process of elimination: looking for inflammation or rheumatism, finding nothing, and ending up with fibromyalgia. Treatments included antidepressants or nerve pain medications to alleviate symptoms. The hope is that existing medical innovations could be specifically applied to fibromyalgia thanks to these insights.
A future approach could lie in blood tests. Researchers from Canada and Israel found in 2022 that women with fibromyalgia had significantly lower levels of a certain bile acid in their blood compared to healthy women. The lower the level, the more severe the pain, fatigue, and sleep and concentration problems.6
Particularly intriguing: Using six bile acid levels, an AI was able to identify who had fibromyalgia with over 90 percent accuracy. However, it’s too early for a blood test: The study was small, only examined women, and needs to be confirmed by further research.