[t]Fibromyalgia could be diagnosed by a simple finger prick test within the next five years, researchers say.[/t]
The breakthrough has the potential to knock five years off a patient’s wait for a diagnosis, according to the authors from the department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Ohio State University.
The proof of concept study compared the molecular pattern of blood spot samples of fibromyalgia (FM) patients with samples from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
The researchers discovered that while the samples from the RA and OA groups were metabolically similar, biochemical differences were seen in the FM group that were distinctive from the other two groups.
In particular, amino acid/peptide metabolism were significantly different between the FM and RA and OA groups.
Several of these biochemicals were involved in pathways that may play a role in the disease process of FM, the researchers said in their paper published in Analyst.
The test was most likely two to five years away from being used in clinical practice, author Professor Tony Buffington told Rheumatology Update.
“Now that we have the test in hand, we need to investigate it in primary care patients, probably a few hundred, with support of our rheumatology colleagues to help confirm the diagnosis,” he said.
A readily available test for fibromyalgia would have a big impact for patients who often spend years weaving through the healthcare system trying to get a diagnosis.
“I hope [ the test] will mean less cost, frustration, time and suffering by providing a diagnosis at an earlier stage of the disease, which currently takes 3-5 years, thousands of dollars, and potentially many difficult interactions with the health care system,” he said.
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