Fibromyalgia

SIMPLE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS OF
THE CAUSES OF FIBROMYALGIA
by Majid Ali, MD

This article was provided by:
Aging Healthfully Magazine

Note: The information on this website is presented for educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified professional.

    I ask the readers to carefully consider the following facts about fibromyalgia. While some of the terms and concepts may seem tedious, once the meaning of those terms is grasped, fibromyalgia will no longer be a mystery malady. It will be easy for them to understand how their symptoms are produced. More importantly, they will be able to intelligently participate in planning a program of recovery with their physicians. I also ask them to overlook obvious repetitions in some areas of core importance. Such repetition is a small price to pay for clarity in thought. The readers need to understand the following:

    A.     Three Sets of Causes of Fibromyalgia
        1.    Metabolic oxidants
        2.    Microbial oxidants
        3.    Man-made oxidants (Oxidants are substances that damage tissues.)

    B.     Three Molecular Mechanisms of Fibromyalgia
        1.    Oxidosis (too much oxidation)
        2.    Dysoxygenosis (too little oxygen)
        3.    Acidosis (too much acidity) (Oxidosis is rapid breakdown. Dysoxygenosis
                [dys-oxy-gen-osis] is abnormal oxygen metabolism.)

C.    Three Levels of Injured Cellular and Organ Ecosystems and an Ecologic Road Map to Recovery
        1.    The base trio of the bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems
        2.    The middle trio of the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas ecosystems
        3.    The top trio of the limbic system, sex hormones, and neurotransmitters.

TOXINS:
Metabolic, Microbial, and Man-Made
    Of the three main types of toxins identified above that lead to fibromyalgia, the metabolic toxins are the least important in the initial stages, but the most dangerous in advanced stages of fibromyalgia. The reason for that is that all kinds of metabolic havoc are wreaked on the human tissues once oxygen metabolism becomes dysfunctional. The full significance of that statement becomes obvious in the chapters devoted to oxygen metabolism later in this volume.
    Metabolism (the sum total of all life processes) produces many oxidants as waste products. In health, the detox mechanisms of the body neutralize and clear such oxidants. In illness, such oxidants are produced in such large quantities that the detox systems fail. Excess oxidants accumulate and cause oxidosis which, in turn, leads to dysoxygenosis and acidosis. The states of illness that lead to oxidosis and dysoxygenosis include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivity syndrome, and others.
    Microbial oxidants are produced in large quantities by microbes which live in the body in health. Those microbes multiply rapidly in the bowel and blood ecosystems with sugar overload, antibiotic abuse, pesticides, pollutants, and other toxins. All microbial oxidants cause oxidosis which, in turn, leads to dysoxygenosis and acidosis. Microbial oxidants include those produced by:

    1.    Yeasts (mycotoxins);
    2.    Bacteria (endotoxins and exotoxins);
    3.    Viruses (oxidants produced by damaged cells); and
    4.    Parasites (oxidants produced by parasites as well as by cells and tissues damaged by
            parasites).

    Man-made oxidants include designer killer molecules (such as pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides), industrial pollutants, toxic metal compounds (such as dental mercury amalgams), and synthetic hormones. The toxic burden of chemicals has increased markedly during this century. For example, in the U.S. more than nineteen million pounds of antibiotics are fed to cattle and chicken every year.

THREE FURIES:OXIDOSIS, DYSOXYGENOSIS, AND ACIDOSIS
    Oxidosis is the build-up of oxidants in the body that leads to excessive oxidative injury to molecules, cells, and tissues. Oxidosis is the basic mechanism of all cellular and tissue injury. It creates both dysoxygenosis and acidosis. Fibromyalgia cannot be understood without a full grasp of this simple scientific fact. Nor can anyone design a rational and scientific plan of recovery from fibromyalgia without grounding all therapies on this fact.
    Dysoxygenosis is my term for abnormal oxygen metabolism. It is not simply a lack of available oxygen in the lungs or tissues. In dysoxygenosis, cells and tissues cannot fully utilize oxygen that is available to them. The symptom-complexes of fibromyalgia cannot be understood without a full grasp of this scientific fact. Dysoxygenosis is caused by oxidosis and, in turn, fans the flames of oxidosis as well as acidosis. Consider the following: A healthy young man sprints two hundred yards on a beach, stops to catch his breath, and within minutes is ready to sprint again. That is not the case with a young fibro canary. If he were ever to sprint (even after a lightning storm, when the beach air has been cleared of pollutants), he will not be able to get out of his bed the next day. Indeed, many fibro canaries may be bedridden for days after such exertion. There will evidently be no deficiency of oxygen in the air by the sea, nor in his lungs. His problem will be abnormal oxygen metabolism.
    Acidosis disturbs the delicate balance between acids and alkalies (pH level) in the body. The changes in pH seriously interfere with the activities of enzymes involved in the digestive- absorptive, detox, neurotransmitter, and energy functions of the body. Acidosis is caused by oxidosis and dysoxygenosis which, in turn, feeds the fires of both oxidosis and dysoxygenosis.

SLUGGISH BLOOD AND STAGNANT LYMPH Oxidative Coagulopathy and Oxidative Lymphopathy
    The white and the yellow of an egg harden when it is boiled. Milk turns sour and forms tiny curdles when a few drops of lemon juice are squeezed into it. Milk turns into yogurt when a culture of microbes in added to it. Those are three examples of how proteins solidify when they are:
    1.    Heated (as in boiling of an egg).
    2.    When acids are added to them (as when citric acid in lemon juice causes milk to form tiny
             curdles).
    3.    When enzymes in microbes work on them (as in the making of yogurt).

    The proteins in the circulating blood are solidify and form microclots when exposed to:
    1.    Excessive oxidative stress caused by lifestyle and biologic stresses.
    2.    Organic acids produced in excess during metabolic stresses.
    3.    Enzymes of microbes (bacteria and yeast) and toxins produced by viruses and parasites.

    Blood clots and unclots at all times. But there is a limit to its ability to clear microclots. Blood thickens and becomes sluggish and lymph becomes stagnant when that happens.

Oxidative Coagulopathy
    Oxidative coagulpathy is a term for formation of microscopic blood clots in the circulating blood. Blood clots and unclots at all times. In health, microscopic clots formed in the blood are readily dissolved so that such clots are seen infrequently in freshly prepared blood smears. When microscopic clotting is speeded up by any of the factors mentioned above, excessive microclots accumulate in the blood and are lodged in different parts of the body, choking the blood supply to that part and causing accelerated oxidative injury. This is called oxidative coagulopathy. (Ref: Ali M, Ali O. AA oxidopathy. The Journal of Integrative Medicine 1997;1:6-112.)

Oxidative Lymphopathy
    Lymphopathy is a term for formation of microscopic clots in lymph, the pale white fluid that flows in lymphatic channels. Like circulating blood, circulating lymph also clots and unclots at all times. In health, like blood microclots, lymph microclots also unclot readily so that excess microclot formation does not occur. When excessive oxidative coagulopathy occurs in the circulating blood, lymph also curdles excessively. Curdles of oxidized lymph stagnate in the muscles and choke muscle cells, causing severe muscle pain and trigger points. (Ref: Ali M. Oxidative regression to primordial cellular ecology. The Journal of Integrative Medicine 1998;2:4-49.)

FIBRO IS REAL
    If you are a fibro canary, you know that fibromyalgia is real. If your physicians doubt that, they cannot help you. Be kind to yourself and find another physician who understands this problem. The road to recovery from fibromyalgia is often long and difficult. You need not make it much more difficult.
FIBRO IS REVERSIBLE
    If you are a fibro canary, please be kind to yourself and shun people who insist fibromyalgia is irreversible. The road to recovery from fibromyalgia is often long and difficult. You need not absorb the negativity of others.
FIBRO CANNOT BE REVERSED WITH DRUGS
    If you are a fibro canary, please know that fibromyalgia cannot be reversed with any drugs. You will learn that sooner or later. No drug at present is known to cure fibromyalgia. It seems highly unlikely that such a drug will be synthesized in the foreseeable future. In this volume, I discuss at length my reasons for that view.

Healing is an energy phenomenon. Hope is another word for healing.

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