Who is researching fibromyalgia

However, the current evidence is too limited to be considered conclusive. Experts recommend that massage therapy for fibromyalgia should not cause pain.

It may be necessary to start with very gentle massage and increase the intensity gradually over time. Massage therapy appears to have few risks when performed by a trained practitioner.

Tai chi and qi gong , which originated in China, and yoga, which is of Indian origin, all involve a combination of physical postures or movements, a focus on breathing, and meditation or relaxation. Because these three practices have so many features in common, they are sometimes grouped together as meditative movement practices.

Exercise is beneficial for people with fibromyalgia, so meditative movement practices may be helpful because of the physical activity they involve. Some individual studies of tai chi, qi gong, or yoga for fibromyalgia symptoms have had promising results. Meditative movement practices generally have good safety records when practiced under the guidance of a qualified instructor.

Few side effects have been reported in studies of yoga, tai chi, or qi gong. However, these practices may need to be modified to make them suitable for people with fibromyalgia. Mindfulness Meditation. Mindfulness meditation is a type of meditation that involves completely focusing on experiences on a moment-to-moment basis. In several studies, mindfulness meditation training has led to short-term improvements in pain and quality of life in people with fibromyalgia.

However, the number of studies is small, and the quality of the evidence is relatively low, so no definite conclusions can be reached. Frequent practice of mindfulness techniques may be important for good results. In a study of mindfulness for fibromyalgia, those participants who practiced mindfulness more frequently had a greater reduction in symptoms.

Mindfulness and other forms of meditation are generally considered to be safe for healthy people. However, they may need to be modified to make them safe and comfortable for people with some health conditions.

More information about meditation. Other Mind and Body Practices. Natural Products. It has been suggested that deficiencies in vitamin D might worsen fibromyalgia symptoms. In one study of women with fibromyalgia who had low vitamin D levels, 20 weeks of vitamin D supplementation led to a reduction in pain. Researchers are investigating whether low magnesium levels contribute to fibromyalgia and if magnesium supplements might help to reduce symptoms.

Other natural products that have been studied for fibromyalgia include dietary supplements such as soy, S-adenosyl-L-methionine SAMe , and creatine, and topical products containing capsaicin the substance that gives chili peppers their heat. Even vitamins and minerals including vitamin D and magnesium can be harmful if taken in excessive amounts. Other Complementary Approaches.

Balneotherapy is the technique of bathing in tap or mineral water for health purposes; it also includes related practices such as mud packs. Balneotherapy has a good safety record. Homeopathy is a medical system based on the unconventional idea that a disease can be cured by highly diluted solutions of a substance that causes similar symptoms in healthy people. Studies of homeopathy have not demonstrated that it is beneficial for fibromyalgia. Highly diluted homeopathic remedies are generally safe.

However, not all products labeled as homeopathic are highly dilute; some may contain substantial amounts of ingredients and therefore could cause side effects. More information about homeopathy. Magnetic Therapies. Static permanent magnets are found in magnetic mattress pads, shoe inserts, bracelets, and other products.

Electromagnets are used in a type of treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS , which influences brain activity. Food and Drug Administration has approved certain TMS devices for treating migraine and treatment-resistant depression. A small number of preliminary studies have evaluated TMS for fibromyalgia symptoms, and some have had promising results. Magnets and magnetic devices may not be safe for people who have metal implants or medical devices such as pacemakers in their bodies.

Headaches have been reported as a side effect in several studies of TMS for fibromyalgia. More information about magnets. The study showed no effect of Reiki on pain or any of the other outcomes measured in the study physical and mental functioning, medication use, and visits to health care providers.

Reiki appears to be generally safe. More information about Reiki. Recent NCCIH-sponsored studies have been investigating various aspects of complementary and integrative interventions for fibromyalgia, including: The effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine for treating fibromyalgia How tai chi compares to aerobic exercise as an adjunctive treatment for fibromyalgia symptoms Whether brain responses to placebos differ between people with fibromyalgia and healthy people.

More to Consider. Be aware that some complementary health approaches—particularly dietary supplements—may interact with conventional medical treatments. Tell all your health care providers about any complementary or integrative health approaches you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care. For More Information. Toll-free in the U. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases NIAMS The mission of NIAMS 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.

MedlinePlus To provide resources that help answer health questions, MedlinePlus a service of the National Library of Medicine brings together authoritative information from the National Institutes of Health as well as other Government agencies and health-related organizations. Key References. Reiki for the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Acupuncture for treating fibromyalgia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Accessed at www. Evidence for the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of fibromyalgia: a systematic review. Efficacy of EMG- and EEG-biofeedback in fibromyalgia syndrome: a meta-analysis and a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. A randomized controlled trial of 8-form tai chi improves symptoms and functional mobility in fibromyalgia patients.

Clinical Rheumatology. Kalichman L. Massage therapy for fibromyalgia symptoms. Rheumatology International. Efficacy and safety of meditative movement therapies in fibromyalgia syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. A systematic review and meta-analysis of mindfulness-based stress reduction for the fibromyalgia syndrome.

Journal of Psychosomatic Research. Previous exploration of therapies has been hampered by our limited understanding of the illness. This should now change. Treatment for FMS is focussed on gentle aerobic exercises, as well as drug and psychological therapies designed to manage pain, although these have proven ineffective in most patients and have left behind an enormous unmet clinical need — Dr David Andersson, study primary investigator, King's College London.

Fibromyalgia affects millions of people in the UK and can have a devastating impact on quality of life. It causes pain all over the body, fatigue, disturbed sleep and regular flare-ups where symptoms get even worse. Fibromyalgia is a particularly difficult condition to diagnose and manage because its causes are unknown. This research shows that antibodies found in human blood can cause fibromyalgia-like symptoms in mice, suggesting that these antibodies play a crucial role in the condition.

Further research is needed but this offers hope to the millions of people with fibromyalgia that an effective treatment could be found in the relatively near future — Dr Craig Bullock, Research Discovery and Innovations Lead at Versus Arthritis.

David Andersson Reader. The thing that seems most implausible to me is that they selected 8 people they thought had FM and 6 controls and all the 8 FM cases did predicted things to various aspects of mouse physiology and none of the controls.

You are very lucky ever to get such a clear cut result. But it is particularly surprising in a condition where agreement on who actually has the condition varies so much that some physicians make the diagnosis times more often than others.

Surely even the specialists in FM would find it hard to select a group, all 8 of whom had just the right amount of a predicted abnormality to show up on an assay when no controls did? It would be if that is really how things were.

And we are dealing with assays, at least some of which have quite subjective, or bias-able, endpoints. A second concern is that if pain in fibromyalgia had some specific mechanism as they suggest like sensitisation of nerve endings then the story told by people with fibromyalgia ought to be characteristic in some way. One would expect it to be like a neuropathic pain from a peripheral neuropathy -probably worse in feet and hands.

The literature does not describe this. I guess the impression that I get that worries me is that all these results are the sort of results that someone who is not that expert in autoimmune disease might expect to find but that someone more familiar would consider rather discordant with the clinical picture.

The suggested therapies are also impractical and old fashioned like adsorption and plasmapheresis and more linked to private fringe clinics than to mainstream medicine. I may be wrong but my guess is that it won't be repeatable. I cannot see any experiment like this being sensible in ME. I am not dismissing the research but expressing my opinion that it is very unlikely to hold up. It is difficult to give precise reasons but there are at least half a dozen things in this study that tome indicate that the authors do not really grasp the immunology they are trying to work with.

Some of them I have alluded to. I don't like to be too critical but in terms of my own expertise there are lots of aspects that look a bit too good to be true. The neurological aspects I have less direct expertise in but have had doubts about these sorts of assays for some time. This is an area where you can get the results you want to get any time you like because of all the spurious effects that immunological interactions throw up.

I hope I am wrong but it is precisely because it all looks to fit together so nicely when it doesn't that I am concerned. More discussion on this research can be found here. Abbi, B. QJM : monthly journal of the Association of Physicians , 1 , 3—9. Perlman R. Mouse models of human disease: An evolutionary perspective. Evolution, medicine, and public health , 1 , —