2 replies to this topic

[maineman]

Excellent study in the most recent issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
(info: Mayo Clinic journal is at the top of the heap... VERY academic...)

They report on a CONTROLLED study, extremely well done.
50 white women from Minnesota with Fibromyalgia.
Half got accupuncture.
Half got a procedure that "felt" like accupuncture to the patients, but they couldn't see.
ALL patients were arranged so that they could not see what was being done.

They did this versus "sham" accupunture (i.e. poking randomly).

The results?
There was a statistical reduction in FATIGUE and ANXIETY.
There was a slight, but not statistically significant reduction in pain.
There was NO change in the patients activity levels.
The benefit began to fade out by 7 months.

Conclusion?
Looks like properly administered accupuncture relieves fatigue and anxiety in women with Fibromyalgia for awhile.

maineman

[mss]

It is not just a problem for women. Men get it too. Hopefully "mainman" will add some facts. A part quote>>"Fibromyalgia (fibro or FMS) is not new. It certainly is not the latest "trash can" disease as some doctors refer to the disease. It was first described by William Balfour, a surgeon at the University of Edinburgh, in 1816. The medical profession over the years has called it many different names, including chronic rheumatism, myalgia, pressure point syndrome, and fibrositis. It got the name fibrositis, because it was originally thought to be a inflammation of the muscle tissue."<<<< There is much more, but I am not an expert on the subject. Someone chime in as this is an often missunderstood disease. People taking drugs to lower cholesterol should pay close attention to side effects. Chemo treatments have in some cases also played a part. mss

[maineman]

9 out of 10 patients with fibromyalgia are women. The overall incidence in men is low. Fibromyalgia should not be confused with myositis, or other muscle "ache" disorders. "Secondary Fibromyalgia" has been found with Lyme disease, Hepatitis C, post op, and rarely with acute muscle trauma (like a car crash). It has also been seen in endometriosis. Most fibromyalgia appears to be Primary Fibromyalgia. The diagnosis of Fibromyalgia is extremely complex and requires a specific set of criteria including "tender point" analysis, sleep disorder and fatigue, depression and others. If anyone wants a reference let me know. The etiology of fibromyalgia remains in flux, but a lot of work has been done recently and there has been some evidence of disturbed biological response to stress, with alterations seen in brain chemistry, muscles and elswhere. Whether this is a specific syndrome or a group of disorders is still not clear. The study in today's Mayo Clinic involved 50 women only. In medical research we are very specific when interpreting study results. While it would "seem" that accupuncture might help men, the study ONLY involved women, so as scientists we can only honestly say that it has been shown to help women. maineman