Fibromyalgia Research Roundup 9-4-2019

04 Sep Fibromyalgia Research Roundup 9-4-2019

Over the years, I have refused to accept the commonly-held idea that there is no cure for fibromyalgia, or that we will have to live with this diagnosis for the rest of our lives.

Instead, I choose to believe there is a cure. We just haven’t located it yet.

I make it a habit each month to go through whatever research articles have been recently released, looking specifically for those connected with fibromyalgia.

So, I want to share with you a monthly Research Roundup of the information I found especially intriguing. This month’s article will include a few recent articles that are more than a month old, because I feel they are significant and you might not have heard of them yet.

In the future, these posts will be mostly confined to research released in the previous month.  

Here are some of this month’s most significant articles:

https://www.massgeneral.org/about/pressrelease.aspx?id=2296 – A summary from Massachusetts General Hospital of research done in collaboration with a team at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. In this study, significant glial activation in several regions of the brains was shown in patients with fibromyalgia. Apparently glial cells release inflammatory mediators that influence pain pathways and contribute to fatigue.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190815140834.htm – An interesting discovery of a new sensory organ in the skin which is very sensitive to detect painful mechanical damage, a mesh-like system of glia cells with multiple long protrusions. Not specifically connected to fibromyalgia at this time, but since the brains of fibromyalgia patients are showing signs of excess glial cell activation, this research area also needs to be watched.

 https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-for-fibromyalgia – A quick summary of research being done using cannabis as a possible treatment for fibromyalgia. Points of interest include:

1. Different strains of cannabis provide a wide range of results.
2. Cannabis interferes with cytochromes P450 (CYPs), and can cause some serious changes in the way the body metabolizes some medications.
3. Cannabis products are still illegal under federal standards, though they are legal in many states.
4. Epilepsy is the only disease where a cannabis-based drug (Epidiolex) is FDA approved and regulated.
5. Due to the drug interactions, it is crucial to only add cannabis products into your regimen with a doctor’s supervision.

Other Resources:

One excellent resource I use to locate new research is a subscription to Fibromyalgia News Today. This is a paid subscription, currently $39.99 annually, but the information gathered by the site has been invaluable. I receive an email a couple times a week summarizing new studies and including articles by guest writers who live with fibromyalgia. I’ve been a subscriber for a few years now, and I feel it is well worth the money to receive these up-to-date reports.

Do you have any new research information you would like to share? Please feel free to comment below and include links to relevant information if you have them!

I do request that you only share reputable research organizations’ information. There are far too many “snake-oil” salesmen trying to get rich quick promoting unsubstantiated “cures”. Our goal here in the Research Roundup is to share only current, solid, research-backed information. All submitted links will be moderated and vetted before being shared with our audience.

As always,

If you haven’t already subscribed, I encourage to do so today, so you never miss a new post!

Until we met again, here’s a virtual hug for you!

Citations:

Karolinska Institutet. “New pain organ discovered in the skin.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 August 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190815140834.htm>.