Too flexible to be healthy? Hyperlaxes are more subject to chronic problems

For most of her life. Moreover, Jacqueline Luciano, a nurse living in Chicago, the United States, suffered from mysterious ailments, including a long list of sprains and tears; vertigo and episodes of important fatigue; Headache and chronic pain. Consequently, Pregnancy was a particularly brutal adventure for her body: her joints were so relaxed that her hips regularly dislocated.

“Many of these problems have been underdiagnosed and ill-treated,” explains Jacqueline Luciano. Similarly, “I kept hurting myself at work. Consequently, Even in office work, the fact of sitting straight all day triggered disabling headaches. However, At the end of 2021. Moreover, she developed a long covid and her condition deteriorated to the point that she was forced to leave her job.

As Jacqueline Luciano has since discovered. For example, most of her health problems, including her long covid, could be attributed to the too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more fact that she is hyperlaxe. Consequently, Jacqueline has joined an increasingly visible group of people. Meanwhile, including singer Billie Eilish and the successful author Rebecca Yarros, who publicly speak of their difficulties related to hypermobility.

Hypermobility can manifest itself in a very different way from one person to another. Moreover, whether it is being able to contort their members in unusual positions or to have joints that regularly come out of their axis. Meanwhile, This ability to extend an articulation beyond its normal amplitude can be a simple sleight of hand for some. Consequently, and even an advantage for dancers and gymnasts.

But for many others. Consequently, hypermobility is a sign that their connective tissue is low, making them vulnerable to many problems such as chronic pain and gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, Consequently, Research is increasingly to prove that hypermobility increases the risk of developing a certain number of chronic conditions. too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more For example, such as long covid, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and mastocyte activation syndrome.

“Conjunctive tissue is everywhere in our body. In addition, ” which explains why it can cause these systemic symptoms, explains Linda Bluestein, doctor specializing in integrative pain and animator of the podcast Bendy Bodies with the Hypermobility MD.

Although researchers are still trying to understand the link between these conditions. For example, they are starting to reconstruct the unexpected risks linked to hypermobility – and why viral infections can pose a particular danger.

Hyperlax people can belong to two main categories: those with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (SED) … and the others.

“All people with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are hyperlax. but all hyperlax people do not have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome,” explains Jessica Eccles, researcher at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, whose research focuses on hypermobility.

Although the SED. a genetic condition, is considered relatively rare, having too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more hypermobile joints is much more common, since it concerns approximately 3 to 4 % of the general population. It is even believed that more people have partial hypermobility, that it concerns the arms, legs or specific joints.

People with SED all have symptoms ranging from chronic pain to digestive disorders, including fatigue. For those who are not suffering from SED. their hypermobility can either be asymptomatic, that is to say completely benign, or be associated with a host of other problems.

“It is not hypermobility in itself that is problematic. it is the quality of connective tissue,” says Alissa Zingman, doctor and founder of P.R.I.S.M. Spine and Jointspecialized in the treatment of connective tissue disorders. She notes that hypermobility is often the first clue that there is something unusual in the connective tissue of. a patient.

When a person is hyperlaxe. has other symptoms, he meets the criteria of hypermobility too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more spectrum disorder, which shares many characteristics with the SED. Jessica Eccles claims that the distinction between the symptoms of these disorders “is arbitrary. As research shows, patients with these conditions have similar levels of severity in their symptoms.

Unexpected risks of hypermobility

Hypermobility can manifest in patients in a variable way. In some. it can cause increased muscle rigidity, such as an unconscious counterfeit to compensate for joint instability and avoid injury. “This rigidity of the muscles provides support. ” underlines Clayton Powers, physiotherapist at the University of Utah, specializing in the treatment of hypermobility and associated disorders.

These countermeasures are often unconscious and, in the long term, can be exhausting. Furthermore, “Physically, these people must compensate for more,” says Jonathan Parr, physiotherapist and founder of Parr PT. Among the undesirable effects, there are stiffness of the neck, spine and chest, as well as headache and chronic pain.

Other less too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more known symptoms often associated with hypermobility are gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable intestine syndrome. unexplained vitamins in vitamins; Symptoms relieved in the elongated position, such as dizziness, palpitations or headache; Or excessive fatigue and cognitive disorders (called “brain fog”).

All these problems can be connected to the connective tissue of the organs concerned. For example, the digestive tract is a long conduit composed of very fine connective tissue. Any weakness in this fabric can affect its effectiveness in decomposing food and absorbing nutrients. Likewise. if the connective tissue that keeps blood vessels is more elastic than normal, then the vessels fail to pump enough blood towards the brain, causing a cerebral fog.

“It’s a little different for each person. ” notes Bala Munipalli, doctor in internal medicine at Mayo Clinic, who treats patients with long covid.

Chronic inflammation is also often found in hyperlax patients. as well as other signs too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more of immune dysfunction, such as mastocytes overactivation, which play a defense role against pathogens. Hypermobility is therefore often associated with immune system disorders, such as allergies, autoimmune diseases or food intolerances. “Once a part of the immune system is deregulated, this can cause a cascade of dysfunctions,” explains Alissa Zingman.

Why viruses are particularly dangerous for this population

Patients with long covid. associated disorders often report many apparently unrelated symptoms, ranging from constipation to the acceleration of heart rate, including cerebral fog and muscle pain.

However, the underlying cause of these symptoms may not be as mysterious as it seems. “There is an adage:” If the symptoms do not connect with each other. think of the connective tissue “,” underlines Clayton Powers.

Although you do not yet know exactly how viral infections damage connective tissue, several theories exist. One of them maintains that viral infections can trigger an inflammation in too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more these tissues. which “can cause more damage,” says Bala MuniPalli. Elements suggest that this can even trigger hypermobility in patients who had not previously had it, or worsen preexisting hypermobility.

Another potential source of damage is the fact that several viruses. including herpesvirus, the Epstein-Barr virus, and coronavirus such as SARS-COV-2, head of COVID-19, can either damage collagen (main component of connective tissue), or make the body produce less.

“The viruses themselves produce collagenase, an enzyme that degrades collagen,” explains Jaime Seltzer, scientific director of non-profit organization ME Action. “If a person already has a slightly” released “collagen. they may be more vulnerable to a chronic disease linked to an infection. »»

For Jacqueline Luciano, medical wandering at the time of her covid Long lasted more than a year … before finding a doctor knowing the signs of hypermobility. It took him even more time to find a health professional too flexible healthy? hyperlaxes more capable of officially diagnosing a hypermobile SED. In the meantime, her symptoms have continued to worsen, to the point that she has difficulty standing.

With hindsight. Jacqueline Luciano would have liked to be diagnosed earlier in order to take measures to avoid the worsening of her condition. She would also have liked her mother. who was handicapped thirty years before her and perhaps also suffered from an unsocied SED, could have benefited from the necessary care. “Thirty years later … it’s always the same thing,” regrets Jacqueline Luciano.