Okay so this page is for when I find articles that I think prove to be quite useful or quite interesting to read, anyway so heres a useful link to be going on with .......http://www.everydayhealth.com/fibromyalgia/articles.aspx
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http://autoimmunityresearch.org/science/
Now I have to say the above article caught my eye when I saw the title and so Yes I did click on the link I mean you see an article claiming to "cure fibro" I'm pretty sure most of us would at least have a quick look but honestly if anyone can make sense of it youre welcome to it but i think the gist of it is saying that all of the nueropathic illnesses are all interlinked.
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This page is a MUST for any of us who want to get some good info on treatments and possible therapies..............
take a look I found it after being asked about Laser therapy for Fibro and Adrenals by Joyce on another site, less chatter and more reading... enjoy this page x x
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http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2008/10/adrenal-fatigue.html
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For all of my american friends give this page a quick look, upon doing research for this site I ca upon the Anxiety and Depression Association for America and there is a page where you can type in your Zip code and find a local to you Fibro specialist.
I hope this helps some of you trying to find someone to hear your voices.
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New study....... take a look it could be so beneficial to those of us whom can get someone to listen to us x x
Neural signature for fibromyalgia may aid diagnosis, treatment
Date:
October 17, 2016
Source:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Summary:
A brain signature that identifies fibromyalgia sufferers with 93 percent accuracy has been discovered by researchers, a potential breakthrough for future clinical diagnosis and treatment of the highly prevalent condition. Fibromyalgia is commonly defined as chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety and mood disorders, with significantly higher occurrence rates in women than in men.
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Tuesday November 22nd 2016
Source: Daily Mail, UK
there is a page called Ask the doctor and on this day one David James from Newport, Gwent wrote:
Can you give me some information on Fibromyalgia? what are the symptoms, and is it treatable?
His Response: Fibromyalgia, a condition that causes pain through the body as only recently 'discovered' and wasn't given it's name until the late seventies. It was certainly not on the radar in 1973 when i graduated and my fist post as a junior DR on a rheumatology 'firm'- the specialty that deals with such conditions.
The consultant who headed the team was the renowned Frank Dudley Hart, responsible for many papers on subjects relating to rheumatic disorders such as rheumatoid disease and Lupus.
Back then, we didn;t understand the cause of these conditions. It was soon revealed to be a problem with the immune system, with antibodies damaging the tissue.
While fibromyalgia was then unheard of, many of the patiants we saw had the widespread musculoskeletal pain we now associate with the disorder, with no obvious obvious cause (all blood tests and xrays proved normal) these patients were said to have Fibrositis
Little could be offered, other then treating the symptoms with mild painkillers and on occasion physiotherapy and to some extent they were dismissed.
Then in the late seventies it was recognised that, in fact, they had a distinct condition with the widespread chronic pain combined with fatigue and disturbed sleep patterns.
Between 2 to 8 per cent of the population are thought to be affected.Symptoms may include tingling, weakness, heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, low mood,irritability and anxiety and bowel and bladder symptoms.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia is difficult - there are no tests and it is therefore based on symptoms (a clinical diagnosis).
Under international guidelines set out in 1990, a patient must have wide spread musculoskeletal pain for longer then 3 months along with particular sensitivity to pressure applied at 18 trigger points (such as where the base of the skull meets the neck)
With a healthy person nothing would happen, but patients with fibromyalgia jump, shout, or at least complain that it hurts. In 2010 the criteria were revised and now there is less reliance on the testing for tender points: the emphasis is on recent history of pain in a number of body areas: we also score patients on fatigue, sleep disturbance and cognitive symptoms.
There is no universally accepted treatment, so its about managing the symptoms. A small proportion of patients find relief from anti-depressant drugs such as amitriptyline and duloxetine. It's thought that these interfere with pain signals in the peripheral nervous system or in an area of he brain where pain is processed.
Anti-seizure medications may also make a difference - gabapentine for example, it helps in 30 per cent of patients (possibly by reducing the irritability in nerve cells firing off faulty pain signals)
Other treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise. But there is no 'one size fits all'
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I think we can all agree its an interesting article.
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Sleep is key to curing chronic pain
Date:
September 21, 2016
Source:
University of Warwick
Summary:
A ink between chronic pain and lack of sleep has been identified by a team of researchers. They also discovered that people with pain who believe they won't be able to sleep are more likely to suffer from insomnia, thus causing worse pain. A pioneering study could lead to specific cognitive therapy to cure insomnia and treat chronic pain.
Researchers from the Sleep and Pain Lab in the Department of Psychology have demonstrated that conditions like back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis are directly linked with negative thoughts about insomnia and pain, and this can be effectively managed by cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
Esther Afolalu and colleagues have formulated a pioneering scale to measure beliefs about sleep and pain in long-term pain patients, alongside their quality of sleep -- the first of its type to combine both pain and sleep and explore the vicious cycle between sleep and pain problems.
The scale was tested on four groups of patients suffering from long-term pain and bad sleeping patterns, with the result showing that people who believe they won't be able to sleep as a result of their pain are more likely to suffer from insomnia, thus causing worse pain.
The results show that the scale was vital in predicting patients' level of insomnia and pain difficulties. With better sleep, pain problems are significantly reduced, especially after receiving a short course of CBT for both pain and insomnia.
The study has provided therapists the means with which to identify and monitor rigid thoughts about sleep and pain that are sleep-interfering, allowing the application of the proven effective CBT for insomnia in people with chronic pain.
Esther Afolalu explains: "Current psychological treatments for chronic pain have mostly focused on pain management and a lesser emphasis on sleep but there is a recent interest in developing therapies to tackle both pain and sleep problems simultaneously. This scale provides a useful clinical tool to assess and monitor treatment progress during these therapies."
Dr. Nicole Tang, the study senior author, comments: "Thoughts can have a direct and/or indirect impact on our emotion, behaviour and even physiology. The way how we think about sleep and its interaction with pain can influence the way how we cope with pain and manage sleeplessness. Based on clinical experience, whilst some of these beliefs are healthy and useful, others are rigid and misinformed. The new scale, PBAS, is developed to help us pick up those beliefs that have a potential role in worsening the insomnia and pain experience."
'Development of the Pain-Related Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (PBAS) Scale for the Assessment and Treatment of Insomnia Comorbid with Chronic Pain' is published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
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