Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) report pain despite excellent control of inflammation with immunotherapies. Variable degrees of coexisting fibromyalgia (FM) may explain this disparity. RA patients who have the highest 2011 ACR FM survey criteria scores appear to share neurobiologic features consistently observed in FM patients. This study is the first to provide neuroimaging evidence that RA is a mixed pain state, with many patients’ symptoms being related to the central nervous system rather than to classic inflammatory mechanisms…
Tai Chi at Least as Good as Aerobic Exercise for Fibromyalgia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tai chi improves fibromyalgia symptoms at least as effectively as aerobic exercise, according to a new trial. Aerobic exercise is the most commonly recommended non-drug treatment for fibromyalgia, Dr. Chenchen Wang of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and her colleagues note in The BMJ, online March 12.1 However, Dr. Wang…
Fibromyalgia-Related Sleep Disorder Diagnosis & Treament Tips
When a patient has fibromyalgia, sleep troubles are the last thing they need. Unfortunately, sleep problems affect a large number of fibromyalgia patients, and those problems can turn into a vicious cycle that interplays with daytime pain and fatigue. “Pain and sleep disturbances are a double-edged sword,” says Elika Kormeili, MFT, a licensed clinical psychologist…
Many Doctors & Specialists Don’t Adhere to Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Criteria
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Generalist doctors, and even many specialists, have relatively poor knowledge of the American College of Rheumatology 1990 and 2010 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria, according to results of a survey conducted in Canada. “Physicians do not have adequate and homogeneous knowledge of the fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria. Approximately half of physicians did not adhere to…
Experts Discuss Rheumatologists’ Role in Treating Depression, Anxiety and Psychological Comorbidities in Their Patients
All rheumatologists have observed the impact of their patients’ mental health status on the long-term treatment of rheumatologic conditions. Depression, anxiety and even loneliness can lead to poor clinical outcomes and nonadherence to treatment, whether the patient is following medication regimens or participating in regular exercise. On the other hand, a patient’s resilience and positive…
Treat-to-Target Strategy Evaluated for Fibromyalgia Care
Treat-to-target is a widely used approach for rheumatoid arthritis, in which rheumatologists prescribe treatments to reach established benchmarks of disease activity.1 Is it time for a similar approach for fibromyalgia treatment, even though its pathogenesis, disease-activity measures and treatment algorithms are less well understood? Three fibromyalgia researchers present their case in a new paper, “Treat-to-Target…
Lady Gaga Calls Off Tour, Citing Pain from Fibromyalgia
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lady Gaga on Monday called off the European leg of her world tour, saying she was suffering from severe physical pain and was seeking medical treatment. The Born This Way singer, 31, who says she suffers from fibromyalgia, also canceled an appearance at a music festival in Rio de Janeiro last…
Mind-Body Techniques for Pain Management
CHICAGO—Delia Chiaramonte, MD, associate director of education at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, presented the newest thinking on pain to a gathering of rheumatologists at the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. She began by explaining that pain is more than nociception. Nociception stimulates nerves to…
Straightforward Approach Can Help Rheumatology Health Professionals Engage with Fibromyalgia Patients
“I have pain all over my body” is a challenging response after you’ve asked a new patient what brings them in for their visit. You immediately suspect that this patient has fibromyalgia. The prevalence of fibromyalgia in the U.S. is 5 million people, and it is among the most common conditions in many rheumatology practices….
fMRI Can Help Diagnose Fibromyalgia
Brain imaging can distinguish fibromyalgia patients from healthy controls with high sensitivity and specificity, according to two papers published nearly simultaneously in Pain late last summer, by groups at the Universities of Colorado and Michigan, respectively. Somewhat surprisingly to the authors and others, in the Colorado study, which used both painful and nonpainful stimuli, the…
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