Fibromyalgia Is Not All In Your Head, New Research Confirms

[Islander]

News release

Researchers discover a rational biological source of pain in the skin of patients with fibromyalgia

[June 14, 2013, Rensselaer, NY] – Fibromyalgia, a painful condition affecting approximately 10 million people in the U.S., is not imaginary after all, as some doctors have believed. A discovery, published this month in PAIN MEDICINE (the journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine), clearly now demonstrates that fibromyalgia may have a rational biological basis located in the skin.

Fibromyalgia is a severely debilitating affliction characterized by widespread deep tissue pain, tenderness in the hands and feet, fatigue, sleep disorders, and cognitive decline. However, routine testing has been largely unable to detect a biological basis for fibromyalgia, and standard diagnosis is based upon subjective patient pain ratings, further raising questions about the true nature of the disease. For many years, the disorder was believed to be psychosomatic (“in the head”) and often attributed to patients’ imagination or even faking illness. Currently approved therapeutics that provide at least partial relief to some fibromyalgia patients are thought to act solely within the brain where imaging techniques have detected hyperactivity of unknown origin referred to as “central sensitization.” However, an underlying cause has not been determined, leaving many physicians still in doubt about the true origins or even the existence of the disorder.

Read more: http://www.intidyn.com/Newsroom/article-0009.html

[Islander]

I find elements of this troubling, so I'm curious to hear readers' opinions.

[Aaltrude]

I have only had time to skim through the article but what they are saying does not fit in with other research I am aware of. How does this explain for instance that the most common trigger for Fibromyalgia (FM) is a blow to the head or the fact that it is often co-morbid with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity? The upregulation of the NO/OONO- biochemical cycle as proposed by researcher Dr Martin Pall, is a very strong contender as a cause of these disorders and as time passes is looking more and more likely.
I agree with you Islander - this does look troubling.

[Reesacat]

Mellow posted these findings in similar article back in July:

http://www.hawkeshealth.net/communit...ad.php?t=13042

[mellowsong]

I'm not sure what the concerns are here. All they are saying is that they have found the cause (or at least part of the cause) of the pain and I think any validation is welcome. That is different than saying they have found the cause of fibromyalgia itself, the initial trigger. I don't believe disruption of the NO/OONO cycle is the root CAUSE of FM/CFIDS/GWS/MCS. Something happened that triggered all these and as I have said many times, the initial trigger is probably a multitude of different insults with the same end results.