Correspondence to: Carmen Ho Abstract: Fibromyalgia is not an uncommon clinical problem in rheumatology clinics. Widespread pain is the main symptom of fibromyalgia. Pain can help avoiding dangers and saving lives, but it can also destroy lives of people having chronic pain. Pain is a subjective and yet complex feeling. The mechanism of pain amplification in fibromyalgia is discussed. Current e...

Autonomic nervous system dysfunction observed in fibromyalgia, characterized without exception by a sympathetic hyperactivity and hyporeactivity, has been reported. However, several studies demonstrated reduced levels of norepinephrine and neuropeptide Y at rest and after tilt table in some patients, which was improved by beta-stimulating agents. These findings support heterogeneity in fibromya...

The description of psychological aspects of fibromyalgia are similar to those of other patients with chronic pain. Three groups, a chronic pain group (n = 99), a nonchronic pain group (n = 34) and a fibromyalgia group (n = 36) were compared, using a standardized interview and psychological questionnaires (SCL-90R, IBQ and CIPI). It appeared that the chronic pain group and the nonchronic pain gr...

This paper focuses on recent evidence of etiopathogenetic links between fibromyalgia and life stress. From an etiologic point of view, studies concerning the role of adverse life events, personality and lifestyle factors, post-traumatic stress, and negative childhood experiences are reviewed. From a pathogenetic point of view, neurobiologic links between stress and fibromyalgia symptoms, notabl...

114 Recent research into fibromyalgia has suggested dysfunction in the central nervous system (CNS) as a possible contributor to this chronic pain condition. If changes in the CNS are involved in fibromyalgia, then dysfunctional brain activity should be present. This article specifically focuses on the brain wave activity in a group of fibromyalgia sufferers. In this study, 40 fibromyalgia suff...

Although the pathophysiology of chronic urticaria is not fully understood, it is possible that dysfunctioning of peripheral cutaneous nerve fibres may be involved. It has also been suggested that fibromyalgia syndrome, a multi-symptomatic chronic pain condition, may be associated with alterations and dysfunctioning of peripheral cutaneous nerve fibres. The aim of this study was to determine whe...

BACKGROUND Hypervigilance, i.e., excessive attention, is often invoked as a potential explanation for the observation that many individuals with fibromyalgia show a heightened sensitivity to stimulation in various sensory modalities, such as touch and hearing. Compelling evidence for this assumption is, however, lacking. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of somatosens...

OBJECTIVE To measure the 1-year incidence of fibromyalgia in a cohort of acute whiplash-injured participants. METHODS Consecutive acute patients with whiplash were assessed via the 2010 Modified American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for fibromyalgia at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year postinjury. At each of these follow-up points, participants were also examined for recovery from whipl...

Evidence coming from neuropsychological studies has showed the presence of cognitive alterations in fibromyalgia. Such dysfunctions are especially remarkable when the set in motion of executive control processes, such as inhibition, is required to perform successfully; however, neural data related to these mechanisms are very scarce. Present study tried to characterize cognitive inhibition mech...

Fibromyalgia is a chronic debilitating medical syndrome with limited therapeutic options. Pregabalin, an anticonvulsant and α-2-Δ subunit receptor ligand, is one of the anchor drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The drug has shown clinically meaningful benefits across multiple symptom domains of fibromyalgia. Efficacy of pregabalin in fibromy...