ANYONE DIAGNOSED WITH FIBROMYALGIA?

[Guest guest]

NIH Issues Statement Highlighting Gabapentin's Potential as

Effective Treatment for Fibromyalgia Pain, Sleep & Fatigue

ProHealth's ImmuneSupport.com - Santa Barbara,CA*

ImmuneSupport.com

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/8159

I. Katz, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institute of

Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), remarked in

a recent press release that " While gabapentin does not have Food and

Drug Administration approval for Fibromyalgia, I believe this study

offers additional insight to physicians considering the drug for

their Fibromyalgia patients. "

Dr. Katz is referring to a NIAMS-sponsored study of the

anticonvulsant drug gabapentin (U.S. brand name Neurontin) as a

therapy for symptoms of Fibromyalgia, conducted at the University of

Cincinnati College of Medicine, and reported online by the journal

Arthritis & Rheumatism in March 2007. To see an abstract of the

study report – " Gabapentin in the treatment of Fibromyalgia: A

randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial " –

go to http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/7876

Following is the text of the NIAMS release, with further details and

speculation on how gabapentin may work to affect FM pain, sleep, and

fatigue.

________________

Gabapentin Shown Effective for Fibromyalgia Pain

New research supported by the National Institutes of Health's

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin

Diseases (NIAMS) shows that the anticonvulsant medication

gabapentin, which is used for certain types of seizures, can be an

effective treatment for the pain and other symptoms associated with

the common, often hard-to-treat chronic pain disorder, Fibromyalgia.

In the NIAMS-sponsored, randomized, double-blind clinical trial of

150 women (90 percent) and men with the condition, Lesley M. Arnold,

M.D., director of the Women's Health Research Program at the

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and her colleagues

found that:

n Those taking gabapentin at dosages of 1,200 to 2,400 mg daily for

12 weeks displayed significantly less pain than those taking

placebo.

n Patients taking gabapentin also reported significantly better

sleep and less fatigue.

n For the majority of participants, the drug was well tolerated. The

most common side effects included dizziness and sedation, which were

mild to moderate in severity in most cases.

NIAMS Director I. Katz. MD, PhD, remarked that " While

gabapentin does not have Food and Drug Administration approval for

Fibromyalgia, I believe this study offers additional insight to

physicians considering the drug for their fibromyalgia patients.

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition for which current

treatments are only modestly effective, so a study such as this is

potentially good news for people with this common, painful

condition. "

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by chronic,

widespread muscle pain and tenderness, and is frequently accompanied

by fatigue, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. It affects three

million to six million Americans, mostly women, and can be

disabling.

The precise cause of Fibromyalgia in not known, but research

suggests it is related to a problem with the central nervous

system's processing of pain.

As with some other chronic pain conditions, people with Fibromyalgia

often develop a heightened response to stimuli, experiencing pain

that would not cause problems in other people. Yet, unlike many

other pain syndromes, there is no physical evidence of inflammation

or central nervous system damage.

Although gabapentin has little, if any, effect on acute pain, it has

shown a robust effect on pain caused by a heightened response to

stimuli related to inflammation or nerve injury in animal models of

chronic pain syndromes. Researchers have suspected that it might

have the same effect in people with Fibromyalgia. The new research,

published in the April 2007 edition of Arthritis & Rheumatism,

indicates the suspicions were correct.

Although the researchers cannot say with certainty how gabapentin

helps reduce pain, Dr. Arnold says one possible explanation involves

the binding of gabapentin to a specific subunit of voltage-gated

calcium channels on neurons. " This binding reduces calcium flow into

the nerve cell, which reduces the release of some signaling

molecules involved in pain processing, " she says.

How gabapentin improves sleep and other symptoms is less clear, and

there are probably different mechanisms involved in Fibromyalgia

symptoms. " Gabapentin improved sleep, which is an added benefit to

patients with Fibromyalgia who often report unrefreshing or

disrupted sleep, " Dr. Arnold says.

What is important is that people with Fibromyalgia now have a

potential new treatment option for a condition with few effective

treatments. " Studies like this give clinicians evidence-based

information to guide their treatment of patients, " says Dr. Arnold.

The mission of the National Institute of Arthritis and

Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the Department

of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health, is to

support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of

arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of

basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the

dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases.

For more information about NIAMS, call the information clearinghouse

at or (877) 22-NIAMS (free call) or visit the NIAMS

website at http://www.niams.nih.gov.

[Guest guest]

Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.