(beraking latest news Salute) – Art at the service of fibromyalgia, a chronic disease that affects 2 million Italians, in particular women, characterized by musculoskeletal pain, chronic fatigue, sleep disorders, neurocognitive alterations that have consequences on the quality of life of the patient. Five young women will put their artistic talent at the service of the awareness campaign ‘Fibro … what? Let’s give a face to fibromyalgia ‘promoted by the Italian Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association (Aisf Odv) with the unconditional contribution of Alfasigma. The illustrators involved are: Roberta Guzzardi, Elena Tersicore Triolo, Cinzia Zenocchini, Ilaria Urbinati and Maria Martini.
“Fibro… what? Let’s put a face to fibromyalgia “(PHOTOGALLERY)
The ‘#diamounvoltoallafibromyalgia’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness of fibromyalgia, “a pathology still too little known and often misinterpreted, promoting medical-scientific awareness and at the same time representing the emotional and psychological aspect of patients’ experiences through the drawings of the illustrators “, underlines the Aisf Odv. May 12 is World Fibromyalgia Day and, for the occasion, each of the illustrators will publish their own representation of the disease on their Instagram page. With very different strokes, styles, colors and graphic settings, these five girls will show the different facets of a syndrome that changes the lives of patients.
“Fibromyalgia patients are very often not understood and considered, not only by some doctors, but also by their families and those around them – underlines Giuseppina Fabio, vice president of Aisf Odv and patient -. Many times we lose our jobs, because we are without protection and this, consequently, leads us to lose our dignity as well. Because with a disease like fibromyalgia, you no longer know what you will still be able to do, how and with what sacrifices. Illness takes over the body and the head and, if it is not accepted and understood, it destroys you ”.
In addition to the significant impact on daily life, fibromyalgia syndrome is also very difficult to diagnose and patients often have to go to numerous specialists with a lot of time and money. “Diagnosis is difficult because a biochemical criterion or an effective imaging test is missing: it is necessary to listen to the patient, collect his clinical history in relation to the symptoms and evaluate a differential diagnosis – specifies Piercarlo Sarzi Puttini, director of the complex operating unit of Rheumatology Asst Fatebenefratelli Sacco of Milan and president of Aisf – Odv -. Furthermore, for this pathology, the paternalistic model in which the doctor provides the diagnosis and therapy, without explaining anything to the patient, is not effective. This is fine with pneumonia or other acute forms. The specialist must transform passive information into self-efficacy education. The patient himself becomes a fighter and develops a path of self-efficacy “.
Fibromyalgia is thus told through images that capture hidden aspects and that try to transfer what the sufferer feels, as well as giving ‘faces’ and colors to a pathology that is still too little known and often misinterpreted. Roberta Guzzardi, Maria Martini, Elena Tersicore Triolo, Ilaria Urbinati and Cinzia Zenocchini, are not only successful young illustrators, but they are also well known on social platforms and will act as influencers towards an audience that is probably not yet properly informed about the fibromyalgia syndrome.
“Only one third of Italians, according to our survey, know about fibromyalgia, and only one in 10 gives an appropriate description – explains Livio Gigliuto, vice president of Istituto Piepoli – It is mainly known as a disease that ‘gives severe pain’ or affects “The muscles. Among those who know her best, however, there is a strong gender difference: it is women in particular, with a prevalence of 37 percent compared to 25 percent of men, and especially those aged 34 to 45 years and with a high level of education to know the disease.Only one in four men, in fact, knows what fibromyalgia is, and the level of knowledge collapses between the over 54 and the less educated.
In addition to the sharing of the initiative on social media by the five illustrators through the hashtag #diamounvoltoallafibromyalgia, the awareness campaign provides for the dissemination throughout the month of May of a series of infographics that visually summarize the numbers and basic information on the disease , in addition to the web platform www.diamounvoltoallafibromialgia.it of the Italian Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association on which all the contents will be collected: the drawings of the young illustrators, the information sections on the pathology, the symptoms, the therapeutic management, the numbers of the Piepoli survey on lack of knowledge on the part of the population and links to the association.