Evidence of abnormalities in the brain in stress-related illness continues to accumulate. A recent paper * compared MRI scans in 14 Fibromyalgia (FM) patients and 14 healthy people and found reduced gray matter in pain-processing areas in the brain in the FM group. The authors wondered whether this reduction in gray matter caused the chronic pain or whether it was a result of chronic pain.
Archive for the ‘Stress Research’ Category
The Physiology of Stress Illness (3)
Friday, December 11th, 2009Adults who had Stress in Childhood (5)
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009For the million American children identified by social agencies as being maltreated every year, and for the many more whose abuse is not brought to the attention of authorities, a new study* shows that the long shadow of their misfortune falls on their economic potential as adults.
Adults who had Stress in Childhood (4)
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009The long-term effects of childhood stress impact relationships and mood in adults. The study* described in the last post surveyed 380 women who came to a general medical clinic. In addition to questions about abuse in childhood, patients were surveyed about whether they had ever experienced intimate-partner violence (IPV) and also about depression. (The vast majority of those who had experienced IPV were no longer in an abusive relationship.)
Adults who had Stress in Childhood (3)
Monday, November 30th, 2009Adult patients seen by primary care medical clinicians often are affected by stress in childhood. Recent evidence of this is a study of 380 women at a medical clinic at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland *. Their survey asked about physical or sexual childhood abuse and assessed the impact of these on physical symptoms.
Adults who had Stress in Childhood (2)
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Researchers have been shocked at the profound impact childhood stress can have on health in adults. The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) Study *, led by my friend Vincent Felitti, MD in San Diego, is one of the best examples. They studied 18,000 people who were having routine check-ups. You can read a summary here .
The Physiology of Stress Illness (2)
Friday, November 20th, 2009To review from yesterday’s post, studies have revealed that people with Fibromyalgia (FM) experience pain differently.* (Studies in other forms of Stress Illness are similar.) Here are some additional research results that support the idea of altered underlying physiology, presented with minimal jargon.
The Physiology of Stress Illness (1)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Stress Illness consists of medically unexplained physical symptoms that improve in response to diagnosis and treatment of psychosocial stresses. Since these symptoms are not imaginary, they are undoubtedly associated with one or more underlying abnormalities in physiology. These are poorly understood but a recent article* reviews the latest research as it applies to fibromyalgia (FM) with likely relevance to many forms of Stress Illness.
