Hopkins Health Alert - Advice for Fibromyalgia Sufferers

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s Hopkins Health Alert

Advice for Fibromyalgia Sufferers

Fibromyalgia is famously difficult to diagnose and to treat. Now data

suggest that acupuncture can relieve some of fibromyalgia's

uncomfortable symptoms – very good news for everyone affected by this

often-debilitating condition.

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by widespread muscle pain,

fatigue, and the presence of what are called " tender points " -- 18

specific sites on the body that are exceptionally sensitive to

pressure. Fibromyalgia is not a type of arthritis because it doesn't

cause inflammation or damage the joints. But it is included under the

broad umbrella of rheumatic disorders, health conditions that affect

the joints or soft tissues and cause chronic pain.

In addition to chronic muscle pain, tenderness, and fatigue,

fibromyalgia symptoms may include sleep problems, morning stiffness,

headaches, cognitive and memory problems ( " ibro fog " ), irritable

bowel syndrome, painful menstrual periods, restless legs syndrome,

numbness or tingling in the extremities, and temperature sensitivity.

What can you do to relieve your fibromyalgia discomfort? A study

reported in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Volume 81, page 749 )

indicates that acupuncture may relieve some of the most bothersome

and debilitating symptoms of fibromyalgia.

In a randomized, controlled trial, researchers assigned 50

fibromyalgia patients to receive either true acupuncture or sham

(simulated) acupuncture. The patients all met the American College of

Rheumatology's diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. Each of them had

already tried conservative treatments.

Participants' symptoms were assessed with the Fibromyalgia Impact

Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Multidimensional Pain Inventory at the

outset of the study, again immediately after the treatment, and at

one month and seven months after treatment.

The findings: The study results showed significant improvements among

patients in the true acupuncture group compared with those who had

received the sham procedure. The greatest benefits were seen in FIQ

total scores at one month (42.2 in the sham group vs. 34.8 in the

true acupuncture group).

Acupuncture relieved fibromyalgia-related pain, but its greatest

benefits were in reducing fatigue and anxiety. The treatment appeared

to have no effect on the patients' activity levels or physical

functioning. The researchers reported that the acupuncture treatments

were well tolerated and had few adverse effects.

Posted in Arthritis on August 4, 2008