Fibromyalgia: Health Story

Aired on Superstation WGN
Saturday, June 11 and October 15, 2005
Show 216

"Having fibromyalgia is like being hit by a truck. Your muscles, hair and bones hurt all the time," says fibromyalgia sufferer Lynne Matallana who was diagnosed in her thirties. Patients who have fibromyalgia display abnormal levels of chemicals in the brain. "Very simplistically, fibromyalgia means if I touch you, you hurt," says Dr. Daniel Wallace, rheumatologist at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center and author of All About Fibromyalgia. "Inprimary fibromyalgia, we don't know the inciting factor. Secondary fibromyalgia develops after trauma, infection or as a reaction to systemic inflammation," says Dr. Wallace. New research is targeting the central nervous system. "Fibromyalgia is a problem with sensation processing that starts in the brain and spinal chord," says Dr. David Hallegua, rheumatologist at Cedars-Sinai. Many new drugs are being tested with success and combined treatments work best such as a combination of pain killers, anti-depressants, yoga, acupuncture, exercise, massage and diet. "My life is more fulfilling than I ever imagined it could be," says fibromyalgia sufferer Sharen Squires who has employed a combined approach to therapy.