SEATTLE (Ivanhoe Newswire)
-- Fibromyalgia is a condition characterized by extreme pain and muscle
stiffness. It strikes 5 million to 10 million Americans. Fibromyalgia is often
treated with anti-depressants, but newer, more targeted therapies may soon be
available.
For more than 20 years,
Elizabeth Tross-Deamer suffered the pain of fibromyalgia. She started taking a
new medication -- pregabalin -- and her pain subsided. “The memory is better.
My relationships are better," she says. "People like me a lot
more." For the first time in years, this wine author can sleep at night,
giving her back energy and stamina during the day.
Bernadine Smith took a
different drug -- milnacipran -- and had similar results. She says: “I
didn’t have as much depression. I wasn’t as fatigued.”
Rheumatologist Philip J.
Mease, M.D., is testing both drugs in separate studies. “At least a third of
the patients in both trials have experienced, roughly, a 50-percent reduction in
pain,” he says. The drugs come from different families -- pregabalin is a pain
reliever, milnacipran an anti-depressant.
Dr. Mease, of Swedish
Hospital Medical Center in Seattle, says, “What both of these medications are
doing are restoring to a more natural balance the neuro-chemicals in the brain
that are off kilter in this condition.”
Both drugs are still in
trials, but for these two women, the verdict is already in.
The most common side effects
in the pregabalin trial were mild dizziness, which went away as drug use
continued. For milnacipran, it was nausea. Pregabalin could be approved next
year. Milnacipran will likely be approved in two years.
Resource:
Pfizer,
Inc.
http://www.Pfizer.com
Cypress
Pharmaceutical, Inc.
http://www.cypressrx.com
Additional
Resources: The Fibromyalgia Handbook,McILwain, Bruce, Henry Holt and Company,
NY, 2003
*The purpose of this page and linked pages is to answer common questions for health problems as well as to present unique ideas towards taking care of your health. The ideas, procedures and suggestions are not intended as a substitute from the medical advice of a trained health professional. All matters regarding our health require medical supervision. Consult your physician before adopting the suggestions in this book, as well as about any condition that may require diagnosis or medical attention. The authors disclaim an liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of techniques described here.
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