News
Fibromyalgia
Upcoming FAMME Trial
Nutri-Pharm is
currently organising a new clinical trial
for fibromyalgia sufferers. A multi-centre
trial, the Fibromyalgia and Myopax Massage
Evaluation (FAMME) will compare massage with
placebo, massage with Nutri-Pharm’s
Myopax product, and no massage in the
treatment of Fibromyalgia. To reduce
cultural and geographic variations, massage
therapy clinics and natural medicine centres
in different countries will participate in
the trial. We will be looking at how the
different treatments affect pain scores,
sleep and mood. Any interested fibromyalgia
sufferers or clinics please contact
info@nutripharm.net
Jump in the Spa - the Best Excuse Yet
A study
involving spa treatments over a 2 week
period demonstrated decreased pain, tender
point count, fatigue and improved patient’s
global assessment compared with a control
group. The benefits in the spa group
remained for six months.
[Ref: Spa Therapy in Fibromyalgia: A
Randomised Controlled Trial. Rheumatol Int,
2005 Jun 17; [Pub Med ID 15965635]]
Acupuncture Fails to Have an Impression
A clinical
trial of 100 fibromyalgia patients compared
standard fixed point acupuncture with sham
(or fake) acupuncture over a 12 week
treatment period. The real acupuncture gave
no benefit in terms of pain scores compared
with the sham acupuncture group.
[Ref: A
Randomised Clinical Trial of Acupuncture
Compared with Sham Acupuncture in
Fibromyalgia. Ann Intern Med 2005 Jul 5; 143
(1): pages 10-19]
For more of the latest in fibromyalgia
please see our
Fibromyalgia News
page.
Psoriasis
The Cause is Becoming Clearer
Studies of identical twins have shown a 67%
match in terms of psoriasis, meaning that
the condition is a combination of genetics
plus environment. To date, 8 different
psoriasis susceptibility genetic regions
have been identified, including locations on
15 different chromosomes. Genetic
connections have been made with other
diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and
Crohn’s disease.
[Ref: Psoriasis – Recent Advances in
Understanding it’s Pathogenesis and
Treatment, J Am Acad Dermatol, 2005 Jul; 53
(1 Suppl 1): S94-100 [Pub Med ID 15968269]]
For more of the latest in psoriasis please
see our
Psoriasis News
page.
Rheumatoid
Arthritis
Hard of Hearing? It Might Be Your Arthritis
A study of hearing function in rheumatoid
arthritis patients comparing them to a
non-rheumatoid control group, demonstrated a
much greater rate of hearing loss in the
arthritis group (36% verses 14%). The type
of hearing loss involved was sensorineural
or nerve type deafness, which may be due to
systemic inflammation and tissue injury.
[Ref: Ear Involvement in
Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Otol
Neurotol, 2005 Jul; 26 (4): pages 755-761
[Pub Med ID 16015180]]
Sciatica
A New
Spinal Implant Looks Promising
A clinical trial of 43 patients who had a
soft “disc replacement” prosthesis
surgically implanted for the treatment of
back and sciatic pain reported satisfying
results in 97% of cases. This very high
success rate compares well with other
surgical measures. We await follow-up
reports with interest.
[Ref: Preliminary Results of a Soft Novel
Lumbar Intervertebral Prothesis (DIAM) in
the Degenerative Spinal Pathology, Acta
Neurochir Suppl. 2005; 92: pages 129-31,
[Pub Med ID 15830984]]
Stay Active or Stay in Bed?
A review of multiple studies on the
management of sciatica and lower back pain
concluded that there is little difference in
pain or function for sciatic patients
whether they undergo bed rest or remain
active. Given the other benefits of
remaining active (circulation benefits,
muscle tone, etc.) staying out of bed seems
to be the preferred option. For lower back
pain the results were clearer: remaining
active improved pain scores and function.
[Ref: The Updated Cochran Review of Bed
Rest for Low Back Pain and Sciatica, Spine.
2005 Mar 1; 30 (5): pages 542-46 [Pub Med ID
15738787]]
Skin Health
Just
Don’t Smoke
A review of studies on smoking and skin
effects showed strong associations with skin
problems such as poor wound healing,
wrinkles, premature skin aging, squamous
cell carcinoma, psoriasis, hair loss, oral
cancers and others. It’s enough to make you
quit!
[Ref: Cutaneous Effects of Smoking, J Cutan
Med Surg, 2005 Jul 7; [Pub Med ID 15988548]]
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