It is estimated that about 2% of the US population suffer from FMS. It is furthermore assumed that most of these cases have never actually been diagnosed as FMS but as other musculoskeletal or neuropsychiatric disorders.
Fibromyalgia Syndrome is prevalent in women. It is about 7-9 times more common among young and middle-aged women than among men or children.
As the causes for Fibromyalgia Syndrome are unknown, we can only refer to anamnesical data from clinical cases.
In these cases we find a number of underlying histories quite frequently:
1. There obviously exists a genetic factor, as we find hardly ever a single FMS case in a single family. FMS indeed seems to aggregate in certain families.
2. A large number of Fibromyalgia Syndrome patients will tell of physical or emotional traumatic events in the past.
3. We find a high number of patients with a history of stress related disorders. Especially people with a tendency to very anxious and very perfectionist behavior seem to be often affected by FMS.
4. We can also frequently find a history of viral infections and sleeping disorders.