# Research finds clues to fibromyalgia



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

FYIResearch finds clues to fibromyalgia 06/05/02ANDY DWORKIN Patricia Crawford usually doesn't talk about her pain. But it isso severe and ever-present she never forgets it. She hurts so, she can'tsleep at night without asleeping pill. Even then,she usually gets just afew hours of rest. Takingstairs is so painful, she issure she will be forced toleave her two-storyWilsonville house. Andalthough Crawford, aday-care operator,usually doesn't show thechildren, her work can beexcruciating. Sometimes "I get downon the floor with thekids," she said. "I getdown on their level. And Icould cry when I have toget up, it's so painful." Crawford is one of about 6 million Americans, mostly women,diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The condition is characterizedby widespread pain, severely tender pressure spots, muscleaches, trouble sleeping and exhaustion. For 15 years, some doctors have said a physical defectcauses fibromyalgia. But others have said the set ofsymptoms is largely a psychological condition. Crawford said she runs into that idea when she visits ageneral practitioner instead of her fibromyalgia specialist. "Ifeel that, sometimes, he feels it's in my head," she said. "Andit's not." Recent work by Oregon Health & Science Universityresearchers is providing new evidence that fibromyalgia islinked to measurable physical changes in the body'sproduction of growth hormone. By taking blood from women with and without the disease,before and after strenuous exercise, the researchers foundthat women with fibromyalgia do not produce a burst of humangrowth hormone during extreme physical effort, as mostpeople do, said Kim Dupree Jones, an exercise physiologistwho worked on the study. Growth hormone helps repair muscles after heavy work, so alack of it could cause pain and fatigue. The researchers then repeated their experiment, giving allpatients a dose of the drug Mestinon, Jones said. With thedrug, the fibromyalgia patients had eightfold spikes in theirgrowth hormone production, matching normal levels. Resultsof the study, financed by the U.S. Public Health Service, werepublished in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Mestinon limits the production of the hormone somatostatin,which inhibits the secretion of growth hormone, Jones said.Somatostatin is produced in the hypothalamus, a part of thebrain attached to the pituitary gland, which releases growthhormone. "I think we just demonstrated it really is all in their heads"Jones said, laughing. "We think this disease is finally going tobe legitimized, because we have some good, objectivemarkers now." Most adults produce small pulses of growth hormone all daybut make larger bursts during exercise and during deep sleep,to help the body rebuild muscles, Jones said. The OHSU research squares well with work done by others,including University of Washington professor Carol Landis,that shows fibromyalgia sufferers do not produce as muchgrowth hormone during deep sleep as most people. "People with fibromyalgia will tell you they just do not sleep,"Jones said. "They toss and turn all night." Jones and colleagues are planning a larger study with fourgroups of patients. One will be treated with exercise only, onewith Mestinon only, one with a placebo and one with Mestinonand exercise. Patients will get three pills a day and exercisethree times a week, she said. She hopes the study will start this fall, and expects it to lastfour years. And she hopes the work, with similar researchelsewhere, will help point to new treatments for fibromyalgiaand to better understanding of the disease. http://www.oregonlive.com/science/oregonia...78249287932.xml


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

Thank you Eric for the post. After reading this article it gives me hope.


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## Feisty (Aug 14, 2000)

Thanks Eric!It soooooo wonderful to know that it is now in THEIR heads---not ours.Oh, I do hope there is something good coming our way soon.Karen


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2002)

Eric, thanks for posting that.I think this really does give us reason to hope.calida


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Your welcome, I hope it helps and that usefull treatments come out of it for people with Fibro. This to me was interesting."hypothalamus, a part of the brain attached to the pituitary gland, which releases growth hormone. "Because it maybe one place of convergence for IBS, CFS and Fibro. The HPA axis.


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

eric, New Scientist has an overview article on serotonin in all these things. I haven't found it yet but mightbe interesting?tom


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2002)

This article is encouraging, Eric. How much is known about the longterm effects of Mestinon?(I'm one of those who cannot sleep because of the discomfort without using Trazadone)


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## Rocki (Aug 27, 2001)

FYI re:Mestinon http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginf...er/a682229.html On this page under treatment click on Mestinon (which treats Myathenia Gravis): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/myastheniagravis.html Remember, growth hormone deficiency is nothing new in fibro. Gayle


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2002)

Thanx, Rocki... I'll check this out when I get some time.


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## Susan Purry (Nov 6, 2001)

Interesting eric, thanks for posting. Rocki, thanks for the links... you sure have some good links up your sleeve







... keep them coming won't you!


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