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FMS Community Newsletter #27 Tuesday, August 26, 2002 Subscription update: 1872
subscribers and 19 new subscribers. Welcome!
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Members of the FMS community have generously contributed in order to keep the
site and newsletter running, but we still need your help.
Please help keep the FMS Community alive by making a contribution if you are
able; any amount will help. Please go to http://www.fmscommunity.org/contributions.htm
to see how you can pitch in.
AOL users: <a href="http://www.fmscommunity.org/contributions.htm">Read it
here</a>
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Featured link: How To Pace Yourself
Pacing is often recommended as a strategy for gaining control of symptoms and
bringing stability. But how do you do it? This week's feature article at the
CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Self-Help program web site reports what students in the
CFIDS/Fibromyalgia Self-Help program have found helpful. (Third in the
eight-part series "What Works for Managing CFIDS and Fibromyalgia.")
Check it out: http://www.CFIDSselfhelp.org AOL users: <a href="http://www.CFIDSselfhelp.org">Read
it here =================================================================
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This week's news:
1) A call for world awareness
2) Meet advocate Aimee Hall
3) Can Martians and Venusians take the same medications?
4) Individualize your treatment options
5) Strategies for maintaining positive thoughts
6) Do your thoughts influence your sleep?
7) Forget it! Ginkgo supplements don't help memory
8) Gene linked to restless legs syndrome in women
9) The Golden Rules of great sleep
10) The Influence of Age on Fibromyalgia Symptoms
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1) A call for world awareness
While the advocacy movement has achieved wider recognition for CFIDS and
Fibromyalgia, research budgets are far behind the number of diagnoses.
A call for cooperation in planning and coordinating next year's awareness events
has been issued by Our FM-CFS World, Inc. Tentative plans are to hold a chat
room meeting in September for a basic discussion of the form of this
cooperation.
If you have any questions, please contact Anne-Marie Vidal at shades-@erols.com
or Michelle Woodward at M32-@aol.com
Check it out:
http://www.ourfm-cfidsworld.org/html/the_our_world_beat.html AOL users: <a
href="http://www.ourfm-cfidsworld.org/html/the_our_world_beat.html">Read it
here</a>
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2) Meet advocate Aimee Hall
Meet Aimee Hall, an advocate and organizer who overcame her own ill health to
start a support group. Aimee's support group quickly grew and became several
groups with over 200 members in the metropolitan Philadelphia area. Her
organizational skills are amazing, as you will see here. She is a firm believer
in laughter, joy and advocacy and proof that one person can make a difference.
Check it out: http://www.ourfm-cfidsworld.org/html/aimee_hall.html AOL users: <a
href="http://www.ourfm-cfidsworld.org/html/aimee_hall.html">Read it here</a>
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3) Can Martians and Venusians take the same medications?
From Today's Health and Wellness Club Monthly News
Men and women are different in many ways, but until now, doctors have prescribed
the same medications to each - that is, if they are suffering from the same
condition. An increasing number of studies indicate, however, that several
widely used drugs, including antihistamines, antibiotics and pain relievers, may
perform differently in men than they do in women, sometimes causing unwanted
side effects.
Phyllis Greenberger, MSW, president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health
Research in Washington, D.C., notes that morphine-like painkillers called
kappa-opioids work better for women than men and the opposite is true of
anesthesia. She explains that a lot of factors could be responsible, including
the varying rate at which men and women metabolize drugs, the disparate size of
men's and women's bodies and organs and the rate at which drugs pass through the
gastrointestinal system.
To keep yourself safe, ask your doctor about the side effects (both general and
gender-specific) of any new drug you are prescribed, as well as any safer
alternatives that might be available. Also be sure to ask about any potential
interaction with other drugs, if you are taking any.
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4) Individualize your treatment options
No one medical treatment can control all of the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Most
individual treatment options only control one or two of the symptoms. The most
successful treatment program combines several different medications and/or
therapies to bring about the greatest amount of control. The key is to finding
the right combination that specifically helps you to control your FM.
Check it out: http://www.fmaware.org/newsletter/treatmentoption.htm AOL users:
<a href="http://www.fmaware.org/newsletter/treatmentoption.htm">Read it here</a>
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5) Strategies for maintaining positive thoughts
"Have a positive attitude." Deborah A. Barrett, Ph.D., writes, "How many times
have we heard that one? While our emotions cannot cause fibromyalgia or chronic
fatigue syndrome, they no doubt affect our symptoms. But how can we maintain
good thoughts when our bodies feel so lousy?" Here are ten great strategies.
Read the article at http://www.immunesupport.com/library/bulletinarticle.cfm?ID=3802
AOL users: <a ="http://www.immunesupport.com/library/bulletinarticle.cfm?ID=3802">Read
it here</a>
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6) Do your thoughts influence your sleep?
The subconscious mind is a powerful tool that controls every aspect of our
lives. The way we think dictates the way we live. In a nutshell -
positive thoughts lead to a good life; negative thoughts lead to a life that
often falls far below what we expect or deserve.
Check it out:
http://sleepdisorders.about.com/library/weekly/aa080302a.htm AOL users: <a
href="http://sleepdisorders.about.com/library/weekly/aa080302a.htm">Read it
here</a>
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7) Forget it! Ginkgo supplements don't help memory
A new study suggests ginkgo supplements do nothing to quickly improve memory in
healthy people, a finding that goes against years of well-publicized claims that
helped turn the supplements into a multimillion-dollar industry.
Check it out: http://www.msnbc.com/news/796753.asp?pne=msn#BODY AOL users: <a
href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/796753.asp?pne=msn#BODY">Read it here</a>
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8) Gene linked to restless legs syndrome in women
Genetic association analysis suggests that the high-activity form of the gene
encoding monoamine oxidase (MAOA) may be associated with the etiology and extent
of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in women, Canadian investigators report in the
July 23rd issue of Neurology.
Check it out:
http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/flo?y=hRw30D8q1f0DbD0FLx70AM AOL users: <a
href="http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/flo?y=hRw30D8q1f0DbD0FLx70AM">Read it
here</a>
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9) The Golden Rules of great sleep
Cornell psychologist James B. Maas, Ph.D., qualifies as one of the nation’s
leading sleep advocates. In his book Power Sleep (HarperCollins), he implores us
to sleep not necessarily more but more efficiently, so we can always perform at
our best. Here are his Golden Rules of sleep.
Check it out:
http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?article_id=6350&code=24044 AOL users: <a
"http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm?article_id=6350&code=24044">Read it
here</a>
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10) The Influence of Age on Fibromyalgia Symptoms
Objectives:
Studies of the influence of age on health and well-being in chronically ill
patients have produced mixed findings. This study examined young (20-39),
middle-aged (40-59), and older (60-85) individuals with fibromyalgia (FMS), a
chronic pain condition.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were differences among
the age groups in symptomatology and to examine potential mediating psychosocial
variables.
Methods:
Participants were 600 (95% female, mean age = 54, SD = 11) diagnosed FMS
patients who were members of a health maintenance organization.
Multivariate analyses of covariance were used to examine differences.
Results:
There were significant differences among the age groups in most of the
variables: With increasing age symptom duration increased but FMS symptomatology
decreased. No age differences were found among the psychosocial mediators. The
results suggest that the effects of FMS decrease over time.
Keywords: fibromyalgia (FMS), age, symptoms, health status
Language: English Document Type: Research article ISSN: 0898-2643 SICI (online):
0898-2643143370384
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to see how you can help The Fibromyalgia Community stay alive.
AOL users: <a href="http://www.fmscommunity.org/contributions.htm">Read it
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August 03, 2004
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