http://www.mefmaction.net/MECFSFM/FMSQA/tabid/108/Default.aspx
Another great link with lots of info that even a seasoned researcher like me was shocked by. Everyone really should check it out.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Present Pain Pays Off
ScienceDaily (June 7, 2002) — ANN ARBOR, MI –
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/06/020607073056.htm
A new brain-scan study confirms scientifically what fibromyalgia patients have been telling a skeptical medical community for years: They’re really in pain.
In fact, the study finds, people with fibromyalgia say they feel severe pain, and have measurable pain signals in their brains, from a gentle finger squeeze that barely feels unpleasant to people without the disease. The squeeze’s force must be doubled to cause healthy people to feel the same level of pain — and their pain signals show up in different brain areas.
To correlate subjective pain sensation with objective views of brain signals, the researchers used a super-fast form of MRI brain imaging, called functional MRI or fMRI, on 16 fibromyalgia patients and 16 people without the disease. As a result, they say, the study offers the first objective method for corroborating what fibromyalgia patients report they feel, and what’s going on in their brains at the precise moment they feel it. And, it gives researchers a road map of the areas of the brain that are most — and least — active when patients feel pain. "The fMRI technology gave us a unique opportunity to look at the neurobiology underlying tenderness, which is a hallmark of fibromyalgia," says Clauw. "These results, combined with other work done by our group and others, have convinced us that some pathologic process is making these patients more sensitive. For some reason, still unknown, there’s a neurobiological amplification of their pain signals."
Further results from the study were presented last year at the ACR annual meeting. The project will continue later this year at UMHS, joining other fMRI fibromyalgia research now under way.
For decades, patients and physicians have built a case that fibromyalgia is a specific, diagnosable chronic disease, characterized by tenderness and stiffness all over the body as well as fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal problems and depression. Many patients with the disease find it interferes with their work, family and personal life. Statistics show that far more women than men are affected, and that it occurs mostly during the childbearing years.
The ACR released classification criteria for fibromyalgia in 1990, to help doctors diagnose it and rule out other chronic pain conditions. Clauw and Crofford’s editorial looks at the current state of research, and calls for rheumatologists to take the lead in fibromyalgia care and science.
But many skeptics have debated the very existence of fibromyalgia as a clearly distinct disorder, saying it seemed to be rooted more in psychological and social factors than in physical, biological causes. Their argument has been bolstered by the failure of research to find a clear cause, an effective treatment, or a non-subjective way of assessing patients.
While the debate has raged, neuroscientists have begun to use brain scan technology to identify the areas of the normal human brain that become most active during pain. A few studies have even assessed the blood flow in those areas in fibromyalgia patients during baseline brain scans. The new study is the first to use both high-speed scanning and a painful stimulus.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/06/020607073056.htm
A new brain-scan study confirms scientifically what fibromyalgia patients have been telling a skeptical medical community for years: They’re really in pain.
In fact, the study finds, people with fibromyalgia say they feel severe pain, and have measurable pain signals in their brains, from a gentle finger squeeze that barely feels unpleasant to people without the disease. The squeeze’s force must be doubled to cause healthy people to feel the same level of pain — and their pain signals show up in different brain areas.
To correlate subjective pain sensation with objective views of brain signals, the researchers used a super-fast form of MRI brain imaging, called functional MRI or fMRI, on 16 fibromyalgia patients and 16 people without the disease. As a result, they say, the study offers the first objective method for corroborating what fibromyalgia patients report they feel, and what’s going on in their brains at the precise moment they feel it. And, it gives researchers a road map of the areas of the brain that are most — and least — active when patients feel pain. "The fMRI technology gave us a unique opportunity to look at the neurobiology underlying tenderness, which is a hallmark of fibromyalgia," says Clauw. "These results, combined with other work done by our group and others, have convinced us that some pathologic process is making these patients more sensitive. For some reason, still unknown, there’s a neurobiological amplification of their pain signals."
Further results from the study were presented last year at the ACR annual meeting. The project will continue later this year at UMHS, joining other fMRI fibromyalgia research now under way.
For decades, patients and physicians have built a case that fibromyalgia is a specific, diagnosable chronic disease, characterized by tenderness and stiffness all over the body as well as fatigue, headaches, gastrointestinal problems and depression. Many patients with the disease find it interferes with their work, family and personal life. Statistics show that far more women than men are affected, and that it occurs mostly during the childbearing years.
The ACR released classification criteria for fibromyalgia in 1990, to help doctors diagnose it and rule out other chronic pain conditions. Clauw and Crofford’s editorial looks at the current state of research, and calls for rheumatologists to take the lead in fibromyalgia care and science.
But many skeptics have debated the very existence of fibromyalgia as a clearly distinct disorder, saying it seemed to be rooted more in psychological and social factors than in physical, biological causes. Their argument has been bolstered by the failure of research to find a clear cause, an effective treatment, or a non-subjective way of assessing patients.
While the debate has raged, neuroscientists have begun to use brain scan technology to identify the areas of the normal human brain that become most active during pain. A few studies have even assessed the blood flow in those areas in fibromyalgia patients during baseline brain scans. The new study is the first to use both high-speed scanning and a painful stimulus.
Brain Blues
ScienceDaily (2009-06-18) --
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616190258.htm
Previous studies have shown that fibromyalgia is associated with reductions in gray matter in parts of the brain, but the exact cause is not known. Using sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers have found that alterations in levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine might be responsible for gray matter reductions.
For the study, magnetic imaging resonance data from 30 female fibromyalgia patients were compared with 20 healthy women of the same age. The primary objective of the study was to confirm original findings about reduced gray matter density in a larger sample of fibromyalgia patients. They explored whether there is a correlation between dopamine metabolic activity and variations in the density of gray matter in specific brain regions.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616190258.htm
Previous studies have shown that fibromyalgia is associated with reductions in gray matter in parts of the brain, but the exact cause is not known. Using sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers have found that alterations in levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine might be responsible for gray matter reductions.
For the study, magnetic imaging resonance data from 30 female fibromyalgia patients were compared with 20 healthy women of the same age. The primary objective of the study was to confirm original findings about reduced gray matter density in a larger sample of fibromyalgia patients. They explored whether there is a correlation between dopamine metabolic activity and variations in the density of gray matter in specific brain regions.
Results showed there were significant gray matter reductions in the fibromyalgia patients, which supports previous research. In addition, the fibromyalgia patients showed a strong correlation of dopamine metabolism levels and gray matter density in parts of the brain in which dopamine controls neurological activity.
The authors concluded that the connection between dopamine levels and gray matter density provide novel insights to a possible mechanism that explains some of the abnormal brain morphology associated with fibromyalgia.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Chronic Crying
Why does everyone start crying when they find out I have fibromyalgia and what I go through on a day to day basis. How is that helpful? At all? It's as if they believe that by getting super duper upset about it I'll somehow keep it together. Like Dane cook during his elevator routine. Angry man gets into a elevator and one of the things he comes up with to defuse the situation is to act more angry than the man in hopes that he'll realize it isnt' such a big deal. I've had probably half a dozen coworkers or friends and family start crying. And now three counselors. Seriously people? what's with the chronic crying!?!?!?!?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)