Fibromyalgia Cure Finally Found ! Or Has It ?

I recently came across an article written on the Guardian Liberty Voice website.  It was dated 20th June 2013, a year ago, and was written by Rebecca Savastio.

The thing is, I have never heard of this reason for the Fibromyalgia I suffer with day in day out, all over.  So I got to wondering if anything had come of it, and if anyone else out there had heard anything to back it up...

If anyone knows of any other information pointing in this same, or a similar direction, I'd love it if you could share it with us in the comments below please.

The following is the article as it appeared a year ago:

"Researchers have found the main source of pain in Fibromyalgia patients, and contrary to what many believe, it does not stem from the brain. The findings mark the end of a decades-old mystery about the disease, which many doctors believed was conjured in patients’ imaginations. The mystery of Fibromyalgia has left millions of sufferers searching for hope in pain medications. Up until recently, many physicians thought that the disease was “imaginary” or psychological, but scientists have now revealed that the main source of pain stems from a most unlikely place- excess blood vessels in the hand.

The discovery may lead to new treatments and perhaps even a total cure in the future, bringing relief to as many as 5 million Americans thought to have the disease. To solve the Fibromyalgia mystery, researchers zeroed in on the skin from the hand of one patient who had a lack of the sensory nerve fibers, causing a reduced reaction to pain. They then took skin samples from the hands of Fibromyalgia patients and were surprised to find an extremely excessive amount of a particular type of nerve fiber called arteriole-venule (AV) shunts.

Up until this point scientists had thought that these fibers were only responsible for regulating blood flow, and did not play any role in pain sensation, but now they’ve discovered that there is a direct link between these nerves and the widespread body pain that Fibromyalgia sufferers feel.

The breakthrough also could solve the lingering question of why many sufferers have extremely painful hands as well as other “tender points” throughout the body, and why cold weather seems to aggravate the symptoms. In addition to feeling widespread deep tissue pain, many Fibromyalgia patients also suffer from debilitating fatigue.

Neuroscientist Dr. Frank L. Rice explained: “We previously thought that these nerve endings were only involved in regulating blood flow at a subconscious level, yet here we had evidences that the blood vessel endings could also contribute to our conscious sense of touch… and also pain,” Rice said. “This mismanaged blood flow could be the source of muscular pain and achiness, and the sense of fatigue which are thought to be due to a build-up of lactic acid and low levels of inflammation Fibromyalgia patients. This, in turn, could contribute to the hyperactivity in the brain.”

Current treatments for the disease have not brought complete relief to the millions of sufferers. Therapies include narcotic pain medicines; anti-seizure drugs, anti-depressants and even simple advice such as “get more sleep and exercise regularly.” Now that the cause of Fibromyalgia has been pinpointed, patients are looking forward to an eventual cure. Other expressed frustration about how much they had suffered already:

“When are they ever going to figure out that things are never “all in your head?” said one commenter. “Whenever something doesn’t fit in their tiny little understanding, they belittle the patient and tell them they are crazy. People have suffered through this since they were invented. Prescribing SSRIs for everything is not the answer any more than a lobotomy or hysterectomy was.”

The announcement has the potential to unlock better future treatments and undoubtedly has patients all over the world rejoicing that the mystery of Fibromyalgia has finally been solved."

Click Here for link to the Guardian Liberty Voice Fibro Cure article, as above

5 Ways to Relieve Fibromyalgia Pain with Diet

It's well known that what affects Fibromyalgia in one person, may not affect someone else.  But some things seem to be fairly consistent in this disease we know so little about.

I have always believed in diet having a massive and defining influence on how we are and who we are, and am always reading anything I can find on the matter.  So it's no surprise that I have been researching online for articles about Fibromyalgia and diet.

After reading a few articles some things seem to be consistent.  The main one, bin my mind, is that prevention is better than cure.

Now, I know we can't, as yet, cure Fibromyalgia, but we can try and prevent some of the effects it has on us.  An obvious way to do this is to exclude foods from our diets that irritate the FM, and to include foods that alleviate symptoms and ones that help the central nervous system in some way.

We can't prevent our Fibromyalgia, but we can sometimes prevent the worst of it's symptoms.

1.  Caffeine 

Caffeine is a stimulant, and one of the most devastating effects of Fibromyalgia is broken sleep at night.  So why would you stimulate your mind and body when you are trying to relax it and sleep ?

If you can't stop caffeine completely, then at least have a cut off time after which you consume no coffee, tea, hot chocolate or even a choccy bar !

DON'T consume anything containing caffeine after 6pm.  And if you can, cut out all food and drinks containing caffeine completely.

2.  Food Additives

We all know that one of the main aspects of Fibromyalgia is having a heightened sensitivity to pain, with the slightest touch being excruciating at times.  Also, it's well known that certain food additives have long been known to cause hyperactivity in children.  My own daughter back in the 80s, was hugely affected by artificial colours added to food, as well as some other food additives.

What many people don't realise is that artificial additives can also affect adults and their pain l, and in very unpleasant ways.

In relation to Fibromyalgia, there are some additives which are known to increase the pain.  These include MSG (monosodium glutamate) and Aspartame (artificial sweetener).  These additives can act as excitotoxin molecules, a group of chemicals that can activate the neurons that increase your sensitivity to pain. Therefore it follows that you could decrease your pain by avoiding MSG and aspartame.

Why not make a food diary, and note when you eat Chinese take away, or drink fizzy drinks, especially diet drinks (soda pop).  Nowadays aspartame is in many things, not just diet products.  It is in almost ALL cold drinks such as squash, cordials, soda and fizzy drinks in cans and bottles.  It's now cheaper than sugar, so is used all over the place.  Become addicted to reading food labels !

DON'T eat MSG or aspartame.

3.  Fruit & Vegetables

Almost all fruit and vegetables contain antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C and E.  Antioxidants help keep you healthy by fighting the free radicals which damage your bodies cells.  The process where free radicals attack the bodies cells and damage them, because you aren't producing enough antioxidants, is called Oxidative Stress.

Oxidative Stress is believed by some researchers to be the cause of our Fibro symptoms.

Eat a good variety of fresh fruit and veg.  Organic is best obviously, as that means you avoid all the damaging chemicals, but price often is a barrier to buying organic food.  Raw fruit and veg is best, but gently steamed is fine too. Don't boil veggies, as much of the goodness leaches into the cooking water.

There are a few studies that show a raw, vegan diet can help Fibromyalgia, but that is pretty extreme and not for the feint of heart !

If you want to eat meat, then only consume free-range outdoor grass fed meat.  Beef is good because it contains a good source of iron and B12.  Iron and B12 are both important in helping your pain-processing nervous system work properly.  Bear in mind that in Ireland, all pork and chicken is battery farmed, indoors in tiny pens - no grass, no real food. Lamb is outdoor here, as is beef.  So always look for the Free Range label on chicken and pork/bacon products.

4.  Vitamin D

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is vital to all humans, but most do not get enough with our modern lifestyles.

It has been shown that it is almost always especially deficient in Fibromyalgia sufferers.  What is interesting maybe, is that the symptoms of a lack of vitamin D mimic some of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia.  It causes muscle and bone pain among other things.

Spend as much time as you can outdoors, and uncover some of that skin so that your body can naturally gather the vitamin D it needs.  In the winter you will probably need a good vit D supplement.

5.  Fish

What are known as the 'oily fish', contain good amounts of omega 3 fatty acids.  Omega 3 fatty acids are know to reduce inflammation, morning stiffness, tender joints and reduce soreness generally.

Many Fibromyalgia sufferers also have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), or Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS), and the qualities of omega 3 fatty acids also apply to those illnesses too.

Eat plenty of salmon, mackerel, sardines, walnuts and flax seeds, as all of these contain high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids.