Fibromyalgia Pain is Real!

Ivanhoe Newswire
Wednesday, November 29, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's one of the hardest health problems to pin down. Some say fibromyalgia is all in the heads of the men and women who go to doctors seeking answers. Now, researchers say there is overwhelming proof that the condition is real.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor reviewed studies involving pain, brain activity and genetics of people suffering from the condition. They report a growing body of evidence pointing to real differences in the brains and genetic makeup of people with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

"It is time for us to move past the rhetoric about whether these conditions are real and take these patients seriously as we endeavor to learn more about the causes and most effect treatments for these disorders," wrote University of Michigan researcher Richard E. Harris, Ph.D.

The researchers cite several studies that reported abnormalities in the central brain structures of people with fibromyalgia. Another study revealed variations in a gene involved in pain tolerance created differences in the way healthy volunteers reacted to pain. Researchers also found variations in the same gene can be linked to the future development of temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, a condition related to fibromyalgia.

The researchers conclude despite some areas of debate, like how it should be defined, patients diagnosed with this disorder should be taken seriously.

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SOURCE: Current Pain and Headache Reports, 2006;10:403-407