Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Research: Green Tea's Protective Role in Autoimmune Disease - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia Related News

Could green tea help my fibromyalgia symptoms?

Research: Green Tea's Protective Role in Autoimmune Disease - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia Related News: "Green tea seems to help protect the body from autoimmune disorders, according to a Medical College of Georgia oral biologist. Dr. Stephen Hsu, a researcher in the MCG School of Dentistry, has amassed a large bank of research helping document green tea's health benefits in everything from oral cancer to wrinkles."

His recent findings concern "autoimmune diseases. These diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Sjogren's disease, inexplicably prime the body's immune system to attack its own tissues, with often disabling and even life-threatening consequences"

Friday, April 14, 2006

Fibromyalgia Sucks Ass - tribe.net

Just found this....and joined...Fibromyalgia Sucks Ass - tribe.net: "Fibromyalgia Sucks Ass tribe!

For men and women with Fibromyalgia and related conditions and symptoms"

Epstein-Barr Virus May Trigger multiple sclerosis

Count down to my appointment with the neurologist begins in earnest now....just 13 days to go. I am still concerned that I may have multiple sclerosis - my symptoms certainly fit the relapsing remitting type but I have to hope that a diagnosis will lead to improved treatment..

Epstein-Barr Virus May Trigger MS: "Young adults with high levels of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus appear to be at increased risk for developing multiple sclerosis later in life, new research suggests.

The findings add to the evidence implicating the common virus as a possible trigger for multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease of the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves)...Researchers have searched for decades for a viral or bacterial agent that may trigger multiple sclerosis in people who are genetically susceptible. Epidemiology professor Alberto Ascherio, MD, and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston have published several studies suggesting that Epstein-Barr virus may be that agent.

"Collectively, the results of this and the previous studies provide compelling evidence that infection with EBV is a risk factor in the development of MS...

it is widely accepted that environmental factors, specifically infections, trigger MS in people who are genetically vulnerable to the disease. But he adds that it is more likely that multiple triggers come into play.

"When we finally understand everything about MS, it may not be a single virus or other infectious agent that is the trigger," he says. "It may well be that different agents act as triggers in different people."

He notes that people with MS tend to generate higher immune responses to many different viruses, including those that cause mumps, German measles, and herpes...

SOURCES: DeLorenze, G.N., Archives of Neurology, April 10, 2006, vol 63: online edition. Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. John Richert, MD, vice president of research and clinical programs, National Multiple Sclerosis Society. National Multiple Sclerosis Society website: "Just the Facts: 2005-2006."
"

Researchers Bring Hope to Fibromyalgia Syndrome

I am still very very pleased with result I have from Allegron ( Nortriptyline) - finally I sleep without waking 3,4,5 or more times every hour, my pain and aches are much diminished and so are all other symptoms like brain fog, vision problems, migraines etc but I still feel soo tired most of the time...suppose 6 months of feeling a bit better is still maybe too short to hope for a complete recovery...anyway it sounds likee this drug has similar effects for som fibro patients...

Dream Catchers: Researchers Bring Hope to Fibromyalgia Syndrome: "For 12 years Bebette Rubio considered herself lucky if she got two full hours of sleep a night. The 40-year-old mother of three suffers from fibromyalgia syndrome, a common clinical condition marked by widespread body pain, a form of body tenderness, fatigue, morning stiffness and disrupted sleep. Fibromyalgia affects 1 in 50 Americans, mostly women...

Jon Russell, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the Health Science Center, who had just completed a clinical study of a drug called sodium oxybate.

"No medication is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome; physicians treat the disorder with medications officially approved for other purposes," said Dr. Russell, who is the study’s lead researcher. "This study clearly demonstrated that sodium oxybate is a novel option of therapy for patients coping with fibromyalgia syndrome...Sodium oxybate is marketed as Xyrem® in the United States by Orphan Medical...

sodium oxybate, currently approved for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy, significantly improved patients’ self-reported perceptions of their own pain and enhanced the quality of their sleep. At the higher of two dosages studied, the drug also reduced tenderness.... Experts suspect that fibromyalgia syndrome dates back to the 1400s, yet it is a condition that is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. It need not be so," Dr. Russell said
"

Catch up time...tired of being tired

..no racing today so time to tackle my bulging inbox. However hard I try to keep on top of posting about my life journey with fibromyalgia and about related news and research into relted topics like chronic fatigue syndrome or ME I always seem to be too tired or have no time...so today I will try to round up the most important articles...

Lifestyle maybe accounts for some percentage of cases of chronic fatigue but I doubt if it explains all cases adequately..Naples Sun Times - Local News - 04/11/2006 - I'm so tired of being tired: "I'm not surprised that symptoms of the chronic fatigue syndrome are more often found in women ages 20 to 50, who have full-time jobs besides being housewives.
What do you say: Is something wrong with our bodies or something wrong with the way we're living?"

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Some of the abnormalities that have been demonstrated in ME/CFS - Eileen Marshall and Margaret Williams - 310306

Hugely impressive article siting evidence that CFS & ME are not "all in your mind" rather the research shows organic abnormalities which are likely causes or origin of the symptoms. A real disgrace if the patient is blamed - as I was by one particular psychiatrist - and not given the appropriate treatment. Some of the abnormalities that have been demonstrated in ME/CFS - Eileen Marshall and Margaret Williams - 310306: "Some of the abnormalities that have been demonstrated in ME/CFS Eileen Marshall Margaret Williams 31st March 2006...

I find this item most interesting...I wondere where fibromyalgia is?
There is:
"evidence that ME/CFS is a complex, serious multi-system autoimmune disorder (in Belgium, the disorder has now been placed between MS and lupus) "

Also: "there is evidence that up to 92% of ME/CFS patients also have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)"

Of the items I can understand or know I have without specific tests I can tick off at least half the list as applying to me.