Acceptance by the health care profession that Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD) can be successfully diagnosed and treated will depend on completion of at least two randomized controlled trials (RCT). The RCT is the gold standard method for documenting that a new form of treatment is superior to a placebo. Only when a treatment passes this test and that passing is then confirmed by at least one additional RCT will clinicians consider making the effort to apply it to their patients.
Posts Tagged ‘fibromyalgia’
Psychophysiologic Disorders and Controlled Research
Saturday, November 14th, 2015A Physiologic Basis for Fibromyalgia
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015A study of the brain (published on-line Jan 2015) has uncovered an important difference in the processing of pain signals between people with fibromyalgia (FM) and those without FM.(1) Participants with FM had brain imaging with functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) while a blood pressure cuff on their leg created pain at a level (determined by each person) of 40 out of 100.
The Physiology of Stress Illness (3)
Friday, December 11th, 2009Evidence 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.
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.
