Altering the gut bacteria of both mice and people either induced or relieved the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia
By Sara Novak
![](https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/08160105/SEI_179318004.jpg)
The gut microbiome may play a role in the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia. Based on experiments in mice and humans, a faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) from people with fibromyalgia induces its painful symptoms, which can be relieved by an FMT from those without the condition.
Fibromyalgia, which affects around 2 per cent of people in the UK and US, is characterised by widespread pain over the body, often with no clear cause.
Researchers have previously observed differences in the gut microbiomes of those…
Reference<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2401739-painful-fibromyalgia-may-be-caused-by-the-wrong-kind-of-gut-microbes/