Study suggests fibromyalgia pain is neuropathic
This study evaluated 305 chronic pain patients (CPPs) admitted to The Rosomoff Pain Center (Miami, FL). All were administered the NPS, a diagnostic tool designed to assess the distinct pain qualities associated with neuropathic pain, and were given a diagnosis on the basis of a physical examination and all available test results.Using patients known to have neuropathic or non-neuropathic pain conditions as a reference, esearchers were able to derive “an NPS cut-off score above which CPPs would be classified as having neuropathic pain.” Patients who had diagnoses of myofascial pain syndromes, spinal stenosis, epidural fibrosis, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndromes, and failed back surgery syndrome, a predicted NPS score was calculated and compared with the cut-off score.The NPS app…
1 in 4 chronic pain patients has vitamin d deficiency, which can worsen pain
Vitamin D deficiency has been known for a while to be common in fibromyalgia patients, and research has even linked it with anxiety and depression in fibromyalgia. New research, however, shows that Vitamin D deficiency may in fact cause worsening of chronic pain in general. The American Society of Anesthesiologists recently released results of a Mayo Clinic study that shows that 1/4 of chronic pain patients have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D. The study also suggests that such a deficiency can possibly contribute to the severity of chronic pain. Their study showed that patients who have vitamin D deficiency needed a higher dose of morphine for a longer time in order to alleviate their pain.Researchers recorded the serum vitamin D levels of 267 adults undergoing outpatient treatment f…
Neurocognitive defects & brain structure in fibromyalgia: are pain & cognitive problems related?
The journal Brain [2008 Sep 26] just published a study on a fascinating study from the University of Regensburg’s Clinic for Rheumatology in Germany. The researchers write that fibromyalgia patients often report memory and attention problems in addition to pain, stiffness and sleep disturbance. While “[a]ccumulating evidence suggests that [fibromyalgia] is associated with CNS [central nervous system] dysfunction and with an altered brain morphology,” there have been few studies that have specifically focused on fibromyalgia patients’ neuropsychological issues. Therefore the authors of this study aimed to determine whether fibromyalgia patients’ memory and attention problems have any correllation with changes in the morphology (structure and shape) of the brain. They focused specifically on…
Gender differences in chronic pain and depression rates
In October’s Psychosomatics (2007 Oct;48(5):394-399), Canadian researchers present results of an epidemiological study of “gender differences in the prevalence of depression in four chronic pain conditions and pain severity indices in a national database.”In 131,535 adults, the prevalence of depression in women (9.1%) was almost twice that of men (5%). One-third (32.8%) had a chronic pain condition (fibromyalgia, arthritis/rheumatism, back problems, and migraine headaches). The prevalence of depression in individuals with chronic pain conditions was 11.3%, versus 5.3% in those without. Women reported higher rates of chronic pain conditions and depression and higher pain severity than men…. Depression and chronic pain conditions represent significant sources of disability, especially for …
The next generation of fibromyalgia research
Psychiatry Weekly 2008 Dec;3(38) Clauw DJ. Fibromyalgia, once viewed with skepticism by many in the medical field, is increasingly recognized as an organic disorder characterized by a heightened sensitivity to pain and other sensory stimuli, rather than as a somatization syndrome. According to Dr Daniel J. Clauw, this shift in thinking can be attributed directly to the spate of new data that indicate a strong genetic component in fibromyalgia, and objective differences identifiable in functional neuroimaging studies. “More and more physicians are now seeing the scientific studies that have been performed on fibromyalgia over the past decade-brain imaging studies, genetic studies, cerebrospinal neurotransmitter studies-that show a strong biological underpinning to this entire spectrum of il…
Eli lilley seeks okay for duloxetine (cymbalta®) as fibromyalgia treatment
In this study, which included patients with and without depression, duloxetine reduced the pain associated with fibromyalgia.” “Lack of awareness of fibromyalgia can lead to frustration as patients often see multiple physicians over a number of years before receiving a formal diagnosis,” said Alan Breier, M.D., vice president for medical and chief medical officer, Eli Lilly and Company. “This research may help increase recognition of fibromyalgia and offer hope to those living with this debilitating condition.” (Source: Latest entries from www.anxietyinsights.info)
Research discovers why painkillers don’t alleviate fibromyalgic pain
New research from the University of Michigan Health System (U-M) has discovered why people with fibromyalgia often don’t get pain relief from common painkillers. They were found to have reduced binding ability of a type of receptor in the brain that is the target of opioid drugs such as codeine and morphine. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brains of 17 female patients with fibromyalgia, and of an equal number of age-matched people without the condition revealed the fibromyalgia patients had reduced mµ-opioid receptors (MOR) availability in regions of the brain which normally process and dampen pain signals - specifically, the nucleus accumbens, the anterior cingulate and the amygdala. “The reduced availability of the receptor was associated with greater pain among peo…
Abstract: fibromyalgia: a disorder of the brain?
This article presents evidence that fibromyalgia patients have alterations in CNS anatomy, physiology, and chemistry that potentially contribute to the symptoms experienced by these patients. There is substantial psychophysical evidence that fibromyalgia patients perceive pain and other noxious stimuli differently than healthy individuals and that normal pain modulatory systems, such as diffuse noxious inhibitory control mechanisms, are compromised in fibromyalgia. Furthermore, functional brain imaging studies revealing enhanced pain-related activations corroborate the patients’ reports of increased pain. Neurotransmitter studies show that fibromyalgia patients have abnormalities in dopaminergic, opioidergic, and serotoninergic systems. Finally, studies of brain anatomy show structural dif…
Women need more love, less drugs
There seems to be a proliferation of “real” diseases that “primarily affect middle-aged women.” That, for example, is how fibromyalgia is described (see “Drug Approved. Is Disease Real?”). The “real” adjective figures prominently in Pfizer’s TV ad for Lyrica, which was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia (see “Living with Fibromyalgia, First Drug Approved”).You’ve probably seen the commercial — if not, you can find it on the official Lyrica product site here.On the left/above is a frame from that video showing a woman in distress after reading from her diary about the pain she suffered “all over.” (God, look at the signs of distress in her face and neck!)She also took the time to write in her diary “But until June 2007 there were no medicines approved by the FDA…
