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Pain in fibromyalgia is linked to brain molecule
(03/10/08) Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a key linkage between pain and a specific brain molecule, a discovery that lends new insight into fibromyalgia, an often-baffling chronic pain condition.
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Why don't painkillers work for people with fibromyalgia?
(09/27/07) People who have the common chronic pain condition fibromyalgia often report that they don’t respond to the types of medication that relieve other people’s pain. New research from the University of Michigan Health System helps to explain why that might be: Patients with fibromyalgia were found to have reduced binding ability of a type of receptor in the brain that is the target of opioid painkiller drugs such as morphine.
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Fibromyalgia: The misunderstood disease
(06/01/07) Ongoing research at the University of Michigan is demonstrating that fibromyalgia may affect millions of Americans, and research using sophisticated imaging techniques is helping the medical community better understand this disease.
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Aging gracefully, with a chronic disease
(05/07/07) For the better part of three decades, Sherrie Kossoudji has endeavored each day to manage the inflammation, chronic pain, tight joints and other types of physical strife caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Now 53, Kossoudji and million of others like her are trying to sort out what is a normal part of aging, and what is a facet of RA.
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Green tea may be therapy for rheumatoid arthritis
(04/30/07) A new study from the University of Michigan Health System suggests that a compound in green tea may provide therapeutic benefits to people with rheumatoid arthritis.
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Pain of fibromyalgia is real
(11/28/06) Many people with fibromyalgia - a debilitating pain syndrome that affects 2 to 4 percent of the population - have faced the question of whether the condition is real. Increasingly, though, the scientific knowledge about fibromyalgia is growing, and a new paper from the University of Michigan Health System says there are overwhelming data that the condition is real, is characterized by a lower pain threshold and is associated with genetic factors that can make some people more likely to develop fibromyalgia.
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New perspective on rheumatoid arthritis
(10/31/06) Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have found evidence that challenges current thinking about the cause of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic inflammatory disease that damages joints, causes pain, loss of movement, and bone deformities in 2.1 million Americans.
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How can identical twins be genetically different?
(07/25/06) U-M researchers have discovered three genes that are over-expressed in rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, that were not known to be associated with the disease before. They also found that non-genetic factors influenced the expression of these genes and that the expression patterns varied between identical twins where only one twin had RA.
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Two gifts to Scleroderma Program total $4.5M
(04/25/06) Gifts from the Rye and Danto families are made in honor of their families' struggles with the little-understood, often-deadly condition.
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Pain research helps identify who responds to placebo effect
(11/22/05) A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System sheds some light on one group of people that seems to experience the placebo effect. The researchers found that people with one type of chronic pain who have greater swings in their pain fluctuations tend to be more likely to respond to placebos.
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Self-applied acupressure may reduce sleepiness
(09/14/05) Students who were taught to self-administer acupressure treatments to stimulation points on their legs, feet, hands and heads were more alert and less fatigued during class, researchers at the U-M Health System have found.
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Aug. 14 Lupus Walk to benefit UMHS
(07/29/05) The fourth-annual Lupus Family & Friends Butterfly Walk will be Aug. 14 in Woodhaven. All funds raised by the walk will benefit the Amster Lupus Research Fund at the University of Michigan Health System.
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Study: Treat depression and pain separately
(05/05/05) Depression often causes a duet of anguish among people already suffering from chronic pain. But the two conditions retain their independence from one another, and this may explain why medications used to treat patients’ depression might not help them manage their pain, a new study says.
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Activity not out of the question for people with chronic pain
(01/25/05) People with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions may be able to be more active than they think — without suffering from increased pain, new research shows.
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New research registry & fund for chronic pain diseases
(08/24/04) A new clinical trials registry and research fund at the U-M Health System will help doctors better understand and treat chronic pain and fatigue conditions ranging from fibromyalgia and Gulf War Veterans Illness to chronic fatigue syndrome and vulvodynia.
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Link Between Depression and Pain in Fibromyalgia Still Not Clear
(10/28/03) There appears to be no association between depression, sensitivity to pain stimulus and how pain is processed in the brain in fibromyalgia patients with and without clinical depression, according to research presented recently by UMHS pain specialists.
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Study uncovers mechanism of premature heart disease in Lupus
(10/28/03) The premature death of cells that line the blood vessels of women with lupus may be responsible for their increased risk of heart disease, according to new research by UMHS lupus and cardiovascular specialists.
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Forum focuses on living successfully with arthritis
(09/10/03) To help individuals understand their options and address their concerns regarding medications, the Arthritis Foundation (Michigan Chapter) will host the event "More Life, Less Limits: Medications and Arthritis" with U-M rheumatologist David Fox, M.D., on Sept. 30.
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As troops come home from Iraq, U-M experts advise vigilance for symptoms of "Gulf War syndrome II"
(07/07/03) Now that service members are starting to return home, the strain they faced under fire may start to catch up with them in more ways than they ever could have imagined. From aches and pains to rashes and memory gaps, the lingering effects of the intense stress of war may be taking a toll on their bodies and brains.
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New medications help patients cope with rheumatoid arthritis
(03/05/03) Nancy Brown can still remember her family talking about her great-grandmother - a woman who spent 10 years in bed suffering from what they called "rheumatism", which Brown suspects, after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder herself, was really rheumatoid arthritis.
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Living with lupus: when the body turns on itself
(02/03/03) Diagnosing lupus and awareness about the disease has greatly improved in the past 30 years, which has allowed patients to learn how to best manage their disease to lead relatively normal lives.
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Exercise, talk therapy may help relieve some symptoms of Gulf War veterans' illnesses
(10/28/02) According to newly released results of a study, regular exercise and a form of group talk therapy can alleviate some symptoms commonly associated with Gulf War veterans' illnesses.
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Drug significantly improves pain in fibromyalgia patients
(10/28/02) A drug called pregabalin has been shown to be an effective and safe treatment for pain in patients with fibromyalgia, according to study data.
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