Fibromyalgia News and Research RSS Feed - Fibromyalgia News and Research

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common and chronic disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. The word Fibromyalgia comes from the Latin term for fibrous tissue (fibro) and the Greek ones for muscle (myo) and pain (algia). Tender points are specific places on the body-on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, and upper and lower extremities-where people with Fibromyalgia feel pain in response to slight pressure. Although Fibromyalgia is often considered an arthritis-related condition, it is not truly a form of arthritis (a disease of the joints) because it does not cause inflammation or damage to the joints, muscles, or other tissues. Like arthritis, however, Fibromyalgia can cause significant pain and fatigue, and it can interfere with a person's ability to carry on daily activities. Also like arthritis, Fibromyalgia is considered a rheumatic condition.

Fibromyalgia affects over 10 million Americans. For unknown reasons, between 80 and 90 percent of those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia are women; however, men and children also can be affected. Most people are diagnosed during middle age, although the symptoms often become present earlier in life. People with certain rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (commonly called lupus), or ankylosing spondylitis (spinal arthritis) may be more likely to have Fibromyalgia, too.
Researchers publish new Canadian guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia

Researchers publish new Canadian guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia

Physicians from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the University of Calgary have published a review article in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) to help family doctors diagnose and treat fibromyalgia. [More]
New study shows that exercise does not worsen pain associated with fibromyalgia

New study shows that exercise does not worsen pain associated with fibromyalgia

For many people who have fibromyalgia, even the thought of exercising is painful. Yet a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows that exercise does not worsen the pain associated with the disorder and may even lessen it over time. [More]
Fibromyalgia: an interview with Dr Frederick Wolfe, University of Kansas School of Medicine

Fibromyalgia: an interview with Dr Frederick Wolfe, University of Kansas School of Medicine

Fibromyalgia is a common disorder that is diagnosed in people who have pain in many areas of their body together with important symptoms such as... [More]
New journal aims to address fatigue in medical illnesses and specific environmental conditions

New journal aims to address fatigue in medical illnesses and specific environmental conditions

With peer-reviewed articles on fatigue having increased 90% over the past decade ­- and nearly 1,000 papers on the topic published in 2011 alone ­- the time is right for Routledge's new journal, Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. [More]
Researchers suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder

Researchers suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder

Researchers have determined that fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany. Results appearing in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder rather than a categorical illness. [More]

Fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany

Researchers have determined that fibromyalgia prevalence is 2.1% of the general population in Germany. Results appearing in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that fibromyalgia is a spectrum disorder rather than a categorical illness. Additionally, a number of fibromyalgia cases in the general population satisfy proposed criteria for physical symptom disorder—the presence of one or more physical symptoms that impair function, which cannot be explained by another clinical or psychiatric illness. [More]

Childhood adversity raises comorbidity risk in bipolar disorder

Childhood adversity, including verbal, physical, or sexual abuse, is associated with the later development of multiple medical comorbidities in patients with bipolar disorder, researchers report. [More]

Men with fibromyalgia symptoms less likely to receive diagnostic tests

Fibromyalgia is a complex illness to diagnose and to treat. There is not yet a diagnostic test to establish that someone has it, there is no cure and many fibromyalgia symptoms -- pain, fatigue, problems sleeping and memory and mood issues -- can overlap with or get mistaken for other conditions. A new Mayo Clinic study suggests that many people who have fibromyalgia, especially men, are going undiagnosed. [More]

Men with fibromyalgia symptoms less likely than women to receive diagnosis

Fibromyalgia is a complex illness to diagnose and to treat. There is not yet a diagnostic test to establish that someone has it, there is no cure and many fibromyalgia symptoms -- pain, fatigue, problems sleeping and memory and mood issues -- can overlap with or get mistaken for other conditions. [More]
Two UT Southwestern researchers to receive 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award

Two UT Southwestern researchers to receive 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST) today announced that two UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are among the four chosen for the 2013 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Awards. [More]

Correlation between childhood intelligence and chronic widespread pain in adulthood

A UK-based study team has determined that there is a correlation between childhood intelligence and chronic widespread pain (CWP) in adulthood, according to a new study published in the December issue of PAIN. [More]

Top-line results from Pfizer's pregabalin CR formulation Phase 3 study on fibromyalgia

Pfizer Inc. today announced that top-line results of a double-blind, Phase 3 study evaluating pregabalin controlled-release (CR) formulation in patients with fibromyalgia indicate that pregabalin CR had a statistically significant positive effect compared to placebo in the primary endpoint, time to loss of therapeutic response (LTR). [More]

Top-line results from Pfizer’s pregabalin CR formulation Phase 3 study on partial onset seizures

Pfizer Inc. today announced top-line results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 study evaluating both the 165 mg dose and the 330 mg dose of pregabalin controlled-release (CR) formulation in adult patients with partial onset seizures with epilepsy. [More]

Sleep symptoms impair fibromyalgia patients’ QoL

A study of fibromyalgia patients highlights the impact of sleep symptoms on health-related quality of life in this population. [More]

CBT ‘has no impact’ on juvenile fibromyalgia physical activity

Cognitive behavior therapy is not associated with increased physical activity levels in adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia, research shows. [More]
Combination of two neuroprotective therapies shows promise against Alzheimer's

Combination of two neuroprotective therapies shows promise against Alzheimer's

The combination of two neuroprotective therapies, voluntary physical exercise, and the daily intake of melatonin has been shown to have a synergistic effect against brain deterioration in rodents with three different mutations of Alzheimer's disease. [More]

Topical NSAIDs as effective as oral NSAIDs for knee, hand arthritis

For those suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees or hands, applying topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — in the form of creams, gels and patches — can bring weeks of pain relief, finds a new review by The Cochrane Library. [More]
Clinical trial to test combination of two drugs in treating fibromyalgia

Clinical trial to test combination of two drugs in treating fibromyalgia

A chronic pain condition and numerous gastrointestinal disorders may all be caused by a virus. That's a Tuscaloosa-based surgeon's theory likely headed for a clinical trial early next year and one drawing support from a University of Alabama researcher who studies how viruses replicate. [More]

Potassium-channel autoimmunity linked to chronic pain

A substantial proportion of patients with voltage-gated potassium channel-complex autoimmunity experience chronic idiopathic pain, although the specific antigenic complex associated with pain remains to be determined, conclude US scientists. [More]
Sleep disorder treatment: an interview with Dr Seth Lederman, President and CEO of Tonix Pharmaceuticals

Sleep disorder treatment: an interview with Dr Seth Lederman, President and CEO of Tonix Pharmaceuticals

Sleep disorders are a large area. We are focused on one particular type of sleep disturbance called “non-restorative” sleep. People with this problem do sleep, but they don’t wake up feeling refreshed or feeling that their sleep has had the restorative effects of healthy sleep. [More]