New research out of Canada found that individuals with fibromyalgia have different gut biomes compared to a control population, shining more light on the difficult to treat condition.

Gut biomes are made up of microorganisms in our gastrointestinal tract and help with bodily processes like vitamin and nutrient absorption, our metabolism, enzyme synthesis, the production of short-chain fatty acids and other health functions. According to new research, the bacteria that make up this internal microbiome are different than normal in patients with fibromyalgia, possibly explaining why the condition causes them problems and why symptoms can be so severe.

“The abundance of some of these bacterial species correlates with the severity of fibromyalgia symptoms—pain, fatigue, cognitive symptoms and impaired sleep,” said first author Amir Minerbi, MD, PhD.  “The demonstration of objective findings separating fibromyalgia patients from healthy controls provides convincing evidence that fibromyalgia is a real syndrome.”

Gut Study

For their research, patients used artificial intelligence to analyze the microbiomes of 77 women with fibromyalgia and 79 healthy controls. After adjusting for potential variables like medications, diet and physical therapy, researchers found some interesting differences between the two.

“Variance in the composition of the microbiomes was explained by fibromyalgia-related variables more than by any other innate or environmental variable,” researchers wrote in their report.

Now that we’re aware of the differences, the next set is analyzing the microbiomes and parsing out tests on smaller scales to see if we can identify certain biomarkers in biomes that contribute to an onset or increase in fibromyalgia symptoms. Researchers also believe that patients with fibromyalgia can attempt to adjust their nutritional intake to see if certain foods improve or aggravate symptoms. Food alone isn’t the only way to manage fibromyalgia, but nutrient intake and absorption is an avenue to consider if you’re dealing with painful symptoms related to fibromyaglia.

At the end of the day, there’s still plenty we need to learn about how our microbiomes impact our overall health, but there seems to be a clear link between gut health and fibromyalgia onset. At a minimum, it’s a starting point for furthering our understanding of the condition, and if all goes as planned with future studies, we’ll be able to better understand the relationship between the two in order to provide better care for patients dealing with the difficult to treat condition.