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The Fibromyalgia Community Newsletter # 13 -- Sunday, 03/17/2002
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Michele Hriciso, newsletter editor newsletter@fmscommunity.org
michele@fmscommunity.org
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Featured Link: Invisible No More
http://www.geocities.com/tlloeffler/fibrofight13.html
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/tlloeffler/fibrofight13.html>AOL users</a>
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In this issue:
1) Announcement: Walk For Awareness Planned
2) How to contact congressional representatives
3) Study: Soy Diet Reduces Pain, Inflammation In Rats
4) Abstract: Combination therapy for shingles pain
5) Abstract: Pain-related worries more difficult to manage
6) Article: Sleep Disorder Diagnosis Can Be Done Effectively at Home
7) Study: Symptoms Of Restless Leg Syndrome Worsen At Rest
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Announcement: Walk For Awareness Planned
Invisible No More FMS-CFIDS-MCS-MPS is finalizing arrangements for its Walk for
Awareness in Washington, D.C. May 11, 2002. This is a short walk (3 blocks) for
a good reason. After the walk there will be an outdoor meeting at which Dr. Dr.
Jacob Teitelbaum Ph.D, Author: Devin Starlanyl, Paula Carnes, Sabrina Johnson
Founder and CEO of our Sister Organization F.A.C.E.S.INC, Sharon S. Sauer CMTPT
from the Paragon Clinic, Tracy Loeffler, Melanie Woodruff and Anne-Marie Vidal.
We also have an on-line petition at:
http://gopetition.com/info.php?petid=340 <a href="http://gopetition.com/info.php?petid=340>AOL
users</a>
We will be downloading the petition and sending taking it to congress.
We also have an Our Voices Project to which you can submit a your version of
life with FMS-CFIDS or MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity). Those stories can be
sent to me at shades-@erols.com . Also see the website at:
http://our-voices.50megs.com/ <a
href="http://our-voices.50megs.com/">AOL users</a>
You already know that 10 million people have Fibromyalgia, that there are a
million reported cases of CFIDS, and the number of cases of MCS is not known.
The cause is unknown; effective treatment is elusive.
Invisible No More is a not-for profit organization formed in the spring of
2001 and we have struggled mightily to raise the money for this effort.
It is one of the most important things we can do for the quality of our lives.
Arrangements for a hotel at reduced rates have been made. For more information,
please contact:
Tracy Loeffer at mailto:tloef@prodigy.net Lisa Malverty at mailto:malv@aol.com
Anne-Marie Vidal at mailto:shades@erols.com
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Need the address, phone number or email/contact address for your Congressional
representatives in both the Senate and the House of Representatives? Click here:
http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/
AOL users: <a href="http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/>Read
it here</a>
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Study: Soy Diet Reduces Pain, Inflammation In Rats
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A diet rich in soy that reduced pain and swelling in rats
could one day be used by humans to manage chronic pain in diseases such as
cancer, US researchers said on Friday.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said in a study that rats on
a soy-based diet experienced "significantly less" swelling and were able to
tolerate more pain than another test group given a milk protein.
The rest of the story:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=705390
AOL users: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=705390">
Read it here</a>
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Abstract: Combination therapy for shingles pain
Bajwa, Z. H. and C. C. Ho (2001). "Herpetic neuralgia. Use of combination
therapy for pain relief in acute and chronic herpes zoster." Geriatrics
56(12): 18-24.
Herpes zoster (shingles) is a localized infection that begins in the dorsal root
ganglla of the cranial or spinal nerves and spreads as a rash over the
corresponding dermatome. It usually is caused by reactivation of latent
varicella-zoster virus remaining from childhood chicken pox.
Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a chronic neuropathic pain syndrome that occurs
as a complication of shingles, most commonly in older persons.
Acute zoster and PHN can be severe conditions associated with impaired sleep,
decreased appetite, depression, anxiety disorder, and diminished libido.
Management of zoster-related pain should begin as soon as possible after the
onset of symptoms. Combination therapy--including antiviral, antidepressant,
corticosteroid, opioid, and topical agents--provides the most effective
analgesia. [References: 23]
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Abstract: Pain-related worries more difficult to manage
Eccleston, C., G. Crombez, et al. (2001). "Worry and chronic pain patients:
a description and analysis of individual differences." European Journal of
Pain:Ejp 5(3): 309-18.
Patients with chronic pain often report negative and aversive rumination about
pain and its consequences. Little is known about how and why patients with
chronic pain worry. This study provides a description of worrying by chronic
pain patients. Eighteen female and 16 male chronic pain patients reported, over
a 7-day period, their experience of pain-related and non-pain-related worry.
Results indicated that, in comparison with non-pain related worry, worry about
chronic pain is experienced as more difficult to dismiss, more distracting, more
attention grabbing, more intrusive, more distressing and less pleasant. Further
analyses suggest that these characteristics of worry about chronic pain do not
arise from a general disposition to worry or from a general disposition to
anxiety. Worry is, however, related to awareness of somatic sensations. These
results are discussed within an attentional model in which worry functions to
maintain vigilance to threat. Copyright 2001 European Federation of Chapters of
the International Association for the Study of pain.
European Journal of Pain:
http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/eujp/ AOL users: <a
href="http://www.harcourt-international.com/journals/eujp/">Read it here</a>
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Coping at work: Ergonomics
Carpal tunnel syndrome and low back pain are just two of the more common
ailments resulting from strain during office work. Read information on
ergonomics - the study of an individual's interaction with the environment -
to find tips for setting up a healthy workstation.
Ergonomics:
http://stress.about.com/cs/ergonomics/index.htm
AOL users: <a href="http://stress.about.com/cs/ergonomics/index.htm">Read
it here</a>
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Article: Sleep Disorder Diagnosis Can Be Done Effectively at Home
By W. A. Thomasson
CHICAGO, IL -- June 11, 2001 -- A new portable monitoring device, known as the
Ambulatory Site-Specific Recorder System (ASSR), can obtain data in the
patient's home and diagnoses sleep disorders as effectively as does traditional
polysomnography in the sleep laboratory.
This was the conclusion of a pilot study presented Friday (June 8) at the annual
meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies by Stephen Gorny, BS, of
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Gorny was joined by
colleagues from Johns Hopkins, from IM Systems, also in Baltimore, and from
Samaritan and University of Kentucky Hospitals in Lexington, Kentucky.
The ASSR combines into a single system several previously available ambulatory
recorders: a pulse oximeter, abdominal and thoracic belts for measuring
respiratory effort, and devices for measuring nasal and oral air flow, body
position, and limb movements. All this is automatically recorded and then
analyzed by proprietary software.
The reported study examined 21 patients with restless legs syndrome, 18 with
insomnia, and six with sleep apnea. On the first night, subjects wore the ASSR
while undergoing polysomnography in the sleep laboratory. They were then given a
brief tutorial on how to apply the ASSR and wore it for two more nights at home.
Comparison of results for the two systems during the sleep laboratory night
showed almost perfect correlation for periodic limb movements (R = 0.99) and
excellent agreement for episodes of sleep disordered breathing (R =
0.96).
Correlation of sleep-wake state was somewhat lower (R = 0.91), with the ASSR
providing a higher estimate of sleep efficiency; however, the authors note,
polysomnography tends to overestimate sleep time for patients with certain sleep
disorders.
Results from at-home use of the ASSR correlated very well with those from the
sleep laboratory, indicating that patients had in general applied the system
properly. One patient, however, appeared not to have tightened the abdominal and
thoracic belts sufficiently.
"I think this will really aid in doing pre-sleep study screening and follow-up
at home, as opposed to the long waits and the expense involved with
polysomnographic recording," Mr. Gorny told DG News. The software is very
important in allowing the device to be used by physicians without special
training, he said. "The software prints out a very nice report that gives total
numbers of sleep disordered breathing events and periodic limb movements, and
then breaks those down hour-by-hour or even minute-by-minute if [the physician
wants] to look at the data in that fine a detail." Mr.
Gorny also mentioned that future plans call for examining use of the ASSR in
children, who are often difficult to bring into the sleep laboratory.
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Study: Symptoms Of Restless Leg Syndrome Worsen At Rest
A DGReview of :"Effects of immobility on sensory and motor symptoms of restless
legs syndrome"
02/19/2002 By Anne MacLennan
The use of the suggested immobilization test as a diagnostic and research tool
for restless leg syndrome has been further validated in a study.
Findings also confirm symptoms of restless leg syndrome (RLS) worsen at rest, as
has been contended by the International RLS study group.
The RLS syndrome is defined by an irresistible need to move associated with leg
paraesthesia. For diagnosis, two additional features are key: 1) worsening of
symptoms at rest with temporary relief by activity, and 2) worsening of symptoms
during the evening and/or during the night.
The suggested immobilization test (SIT) has been developed to evaluate the
presence of these criteria. This test quantifies both leg movements and leg
discomfort during a one-hour period of immobility prior to bedtime.
Martin Michaud and colleagues from the Centre d'étude du sommeil et des rythmes
biologiques, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur, and the Université de Montréal, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada used the SIT in this study to evaluate the effects of immobility
on sensory and motor symptoms of patients with RLS.
Participants were 19 RLS patients and 19 controls.
Study results indicate immobility significantly worsens both leg discomfort and
periodic leg movements (PLM) in patients with RLS versus the controls.
RLS patients showed a higher leg discomfort score, a greater maximum leg
discomfort value and a greater PLM index than did control subjects.
These results thus further validate use of the SIT as a diagnostic and research
tool for RLS and confirm the contention of the International RLS group that
symptoms of this syndrome worsen at rest, these authors conclude.
Movement Disorders Volume 17, Issue 1, 2002. Pages: 112-115.
Movement Disorders journal:
http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0885-3185/
AOL users: <a href="http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0885-3185/>Read
it here</a>
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