Skip to main content

Brain Scans Suggest Pain of Fibromyalgia Isn't Imaginary.?

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter







THURSDAY, Oct. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- People with fibromyalgia have widespread inflammation in their brains, new research reveals.

"Finding an objective neurochemical change in the brains of people who are used to being told that their problems are imaginary is pretty important," explained senior study author Marco Loggia. He is associate director of the Center for Integrative Pain Neuroimaging at Harvard Medical School.
The new research used an advanced imaging test called positron emission tomography (PET) and looked at 31 people with fibromyalgia and 27 healthy "controls" from Boston and Stockholm, Sweden.

Dr. Harry Gewanter, a master of the American College of Rheumatology, agreed the findings could bring comfort to patients.

"There's a heck of a lot of stigma associated with chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia. I think it's going to make a lot of people feel much better to know that there are physiologic changes you can find," Gewanter said.

Fibromyalgia causes pain throughout the body, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition also causes sleep problems, fatigue and difficulty with thinking and memory.

The disorder affects about 4 million Americans, the CDC reports. The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, though the researchers said it's likely a disease of the central nervous system. Medications and lifestyle modifications can help manage the condition.

All of the volunteers in the study underwent PET scans. Fibromyalgia patients in Boston were heavier than the healthy controls in Boston, and those in Stockholm with fibromyalgia. The researchers said this was the only significantly different variable between the two groups.

When the researchers compared the scans of people with fibromyalgia to healthy controls, they saw more inflammation in the immune cells of the brain (glia) in people with fibromyalgia.

Loggia said the findings might lead to better ways to test fibromyalgia treatments, to see if they reduce inflammation. It's also possible that this finding may eventually help researchers tease out the cause of the disorder.

Gewanter said this study gives scientists a number of possible directions to go. One is to be able to follow a treatment to see how well it works. Another is possibly developing ways to intervene with new treatments.

Now, treatment focuses on medication and lifestyle changes. According to the CDC, people with fibromyalgia are encouraged to try to exercise 30 minutes daily most days of the week. And establishing regular sleep habits can help, as can reducing stress as much as possible, perhaps using yoga or meditation.


The study was published recently in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Resource: https://www.webmd.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fibromyalgia: “I am 41 years Old & I Live in the Body of an Old Man”

He is always tired, and all the time it hurts. Patrick Schutz of Neuchâtel has fibromyalgia – an invisible condition that is not recognized by disability insurance. Pain, pain, nothing but pain: Patrick Schuts (41) from Neuchâtel always has the feeling that he has the flu – without a fever, but with enormous lead fatigue. He would like to stay in bed all day and spend time there. “Every part of my body hurts, though, fortunately not all at the same time,” he told the magazine “L’illustré”.  Patrick Schutz and his partner have a three-year-old daughter, Naya. Even if he plays with her only 20 minutes, he runs out of energy for the whole day. “When I’ve slept, and then I wake up, I’m as tired as if I have not slept.” He has lost many friends who think he is pretending. At night you can not go out with them as before, because you need to go to bed at 7 pm to relax. The diagnosis of his suffering a year ago was revealed: Fibromyalgia....
Post a Comment
Read more

FDA Approves Clinical Trial to Test Treating Fibromyalgia With TB Vaccine

With the recent approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a human clinical trial is set to begin on BCG, a vaccine typically used to prevent tuberculosis, to treat  fibromyalgia . BCG, or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, has been used since 1921 as a TB vaccine in countries with a high prevalence of TB. One particular type, or “species,” of BCG is also used to treat  bladder cancer . Some studies have shown promise in BCG’s ability to potentially  treat type 1  diabetes and  multiple sclerosis  by  enhancing the immune system’s  ability to fight its own diseased cells — a process known as immunotherapy. The trial is funded by EpicGenetics, a biomedical company that also manufactures a blood test for fibromyalgia called the FM/a Test.  Research by  physician and EpicGenetics CEO Bruce Gillis suggests that fibromyalgia is an immune system disorder that causes patients to have abnormal white blood cells that p...
Post a Comment
Read more

30 Things Only People With Fibromyalgia Tend to Understand.!!

If you live with  fibromyalgia , you can describe the symptoms you experience to your doctor and tell your friends and family how the illness affects your ability to participate in everyday activities. But unless they have the condition themselves, it’s just about impossible for them to truly understand what fibro is like. It usually takes a fellow fibro warrior to be able to fully empathize with all the symptoms, side effects and lifestyle changes. Connecting with other people who “get it” won’t make your fibro go away, but it can be comforting and encouraging to know you’re not alone in your fight. We  asked our Mighty community  to share some of the things that only those with fibromyalgia tend to understand. If any of the following experiences ring true for you, we hope it can be a reminder that there are plenty of people out there who really do understand. Here’s what our community shared with us: “A day doesn’t go by without some weird symptom. It...
Post a Comment
Read more