From the Literature: Fibromyalgia
Read about some of the latest research studies on fibromyalgia.
In this structured 8-week program, 177 female participants learned mindfulness meditation and performed mindful yoga exercises to help with their fibromyalgia. Based on the results of the three-armed, randomized controlled study, the authors found that “patients benefited modestly from a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention.”
Do Fibromyalgia Patients Share Similar Psychiatric Personality Traits with First-Degree Relatives?
Researchers studying patients with FM and their first-degree relatives (with and without FM) found a similarity exists among those relatives that also have FM across certain personality traits. For example, the relatives with FM resembled the patients with FM in the specific personality trait “harm avoidance.”
Exercise and Body Vibration Improve Fibromyalgia Symptoms
The researchers demonstrated that postmenopausal women with FM may benefit health wise from traditional exercise and supplementary whole-body vibration. There were 30 postmenopausal women with FM that were randomized into two groups, one with exercises such as unilateral squats and whole-body vibration, and a second group had the same exercises but did not include WBV.
Combined Exercise May be the Way to Go
Reports have demonstrated in the past that exercise programs may provide certain health benefits to fibromyalgia patients. The researchers designed this study to determine which form of exercise - aerobic or combined exercise - has more benefit to FM patients. The CE program consisted of “aerobic, muscle strengthening, and flexibility exercises.” Three were three groups: AE, CE, or usual-care (non-exercise) control. The results demonstrated that CE provided the female patients with improvements in vitality score, physical functioning, and body pain scores.
