Ordinary Touches Multiply Into Severe Pain For Fibromyalgi...( GAINESVILLE---The millions of America...)

Ordinary Touches Multiply Into Severe Pain For Fibromyalgia Patients

GAINESVILLE---The millions of Americans who suffer from fibromyalgia live with a two-edged sword: excruciating pain, accompanied by the doubts of many who dismiss it as a made-up illness invented by a troubled mind.

But researchers at the University of Florida and elsewhere are beginning to piece together clues that reveal the physical basis of the puzzling syndrome that causes severe fatigue and aches, and has defied easy diagnosis.

UF scientists have found an abnormal central nervous system reaction in those with fibromyalgia: The body magnifies ordinary repetitive stimulation into an experience of crippling pain.

"This is particularly important because it has been unclear if fibromyalgia was just an imagined illness or a real syndrome," said Dr. Roland Staud, an associate professor of medicine at UF's College of Medicine who also is affiliated with the UF Brain Institute. "We now have good evidence that shows that it's not a psychological abnormality, but that there is a neurological abnormality present."

Staud, who presented his research findings at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology last November, recently was awarded a National Institutes of Health grant worth nearly $800,000 to continue his studies for the next four years. Donald Price, a UF professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, and Charles Vierck, a UF professor of neuroscience, are collaborating on the research. Their goal is to develop a better understanding of the condition, with an eye toward improving diagnostic tests and treatments.

An estimated 3.7 million people in the United States -- primarily women who are diagnosed during their 30s and 40s -- have fibromyalgia, according to the NIH. A chronic illness with no known cure, its cause also is not known. Researchers have theorized that an injury to the central nervous system or an infectious agent might be responsible for triggering it in people who have inherited susceptibility. Symptoms include p
'"/>

Contact: Eric Benjamin Lowe
ebl@vpha.health.ufl.edu
352-392-2755
University of Florida
21-May-1999

Page: 1 2 3
Related medicine news :

1. Severe injuries on the rise among children and adolescents riding motorbikes
2. Severe pain relief may be possible with a common anesthetic drug
3. Severe sepsis causes almost 10% of cancer deaths
4. Severe acute respiratory syndrome? Sometimes its not severe
5. Severe childhood ADHD may predict alcohol, substance use problems in teen years
6. Severe symptoms, social functioning predict cancer patients depression
7. Magnet Therapy Eases Severe Depression, Double Blind Study Shows
8. Intravenous Immunoglobulin Reduces Steroid Insensitivity, Hospitalizations Of People With Severe Asthma, According To National Jewish Research
9. Study Finds Psychotherapy And Anti-Depressants Equally Effective In Treating Severely Depressed Primary-Care Patients
10. Researchers Splice Severed Spinal Cords
11. Black Teen-Agers With Severe Asthma Are Three Times More Likely Than White Teens To Be Steroid Resistant

Post Your Comments: