That is, an event that causes a mild or unnoticeable inflammation in most people might cause a severe inflammatory response in someone with FMF.
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inherited disorder characterized by an inflammatory response recurring with attacks of fever accompanied by intense pain in the abdomen, chest, or joints.
The symptoms of FMF are due to inflammation of one or more of the serosal membranes (serositis).
Thus, FMF is sometimes called recurrent polyserositis.
During an attack of FMF, large numbers of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, move into the affected areas of the body, where they cause painful inflammation and fever.
