A study that compared women with and without fibromyalgia has, for the first time, linked gut bacteria to the long-lasting disease and its main symptoms.

Share on Pinterest Researchers examined the gut bacteria of people with fibromyalgia and found that they differ from those of people without the condition.

Researchers in Canada identified 19 species of gut bacteria that were present in higher or lower numbers in individuals with fibromyalgia.

“We found,” says Amir Minerbi, of the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit at McGill University in Montreal, “that fibromyalgia and the symptoms of fibromyalgia — pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties — contribute more than any of the other factors to the variations we see in the microbiomes of those with the disease.”

Minerbi is the first author of a recent paper on the study, which features in the journal Pain.

He and his colleagues used artificial intelligence and other techniques to rule out variables that might influence the link between gut bacteria and fibromyalgia. These include age, medications, diet, and exercise, among other factors.

“We also saw,” Minerbi adds, “that the severity of a patient’s symptoms was directly correlated with an increased presence or a more pronounced absence of certain bacteria — something which has never been reported before.”

The team is keen to point out that the findings do not show whether the changes in gut bacteria are just markers of the disease or actually contribute to or cause its development.

Further studies that explore the role of gut bacteria in headache, back pain, and other pain-related conditions might shed some light on this question.

Should it turn out that gut bacteria do play an active role in promoting and causing fibromyalgia, such a discovery could significantly shorten the years that it typically takes to diagnose the condition. It could even pave the way to finding a cure.