Fibromyalgia is an ailment affecting the central nervous system, and it happens quite a lot of people. A lot of work has been carried out, with the objective of identifying the causes of this painful condition. But all that work is not for nothing, since the authorities in the medical community have been able to understand what causes this disease. That is to say that we are now familiar with what the triggers of fibromyalgia is, as well as its underlying causes. This condition will become more manageable and finding a cure would be easier provided we know what we are up against and what is causing the disease. We are going to look at three causes of this disease, although there are many other causes as well. These are considered to be the major causes since they are the most obvious and most prevalent causes of the disease that we know about.

First, there is stress. Surprisingly, it could bring about fibromyalgia. More often than not, stress triggers the various episodes of fibromyalgia. In many cases, even childhood stress is blamed for this type of condition happening. It is worth noting, for instance, that people who happen to have other illnesses known to bring about stress (such as depression) tend to have the disease we are focusing on as well. If you compare children who had a depressing and problematic childhood to children who were stress-free, the former are actually much, much happier.

The second major cause of fibromyalgia is hormonal imbalance, and certain changes in brain biochemistry. To be more specific, imbalance in one's growth hormone's is pinpointed to be the cause. But there are certain factions in the medical field who would say that growth hormone deficiency is not the cause, but actually the result of, fibromyalgia. Turning to changes in brain biochemistry, the names of the usual suspects - serotonin and dopamine - come up. Too little serotonin would be responsible for fibromyalgia happening. Dopamine, also known as hypodopaminergia, also causes fibromyalgia in pretty much the same manner.

One reason for these deficiencies in the brain is stress, as we talked about earlier in the discussion. But then again, there is also that argument: is stress the cause or the result of the neurotransmitter abnormalities? If you look at patients suffering from fibromyalgia, you will notice that these neurotransmitter abnormalities are a common denominator. What is also known is the fact that these patients do often (but not always) benefit from the use of medications that rectify the said neurotransmitter abnormalities.

Lack of sleep is also blamed to be another major cause of fibromyalgia. You will find several studies giving proof of how poor sleep can lead to this disease. The mechanism may be a straightforward one, or a more convoluted one, where the lack of sleep causes stress (whose effect we examined earlier) or neurotransmitter abnormalities (whose effects we also examined earlier), thus triggering the disease in question here. However, there are also certain cases where lack of sleep alone can lead to this disease.