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Fibromyalgia Monthly Newsletter
Fibromyalgia Newsletter – January 2006
Brought to you by: Jane Oelke, N.D., Ph.D.
DoctorOelke@aol.com
Fibromyalgia Pain is Real
Do you have people you know and love that do not believe the pain you are experiencing? Does your doctor believe that your pain is all in your head, and an antidepressant is the best answer for your made up pain? Now you can show those people that your pain is real. Your nervous system is hypersensitive to pain, and so you react more severely than the average person.
In a study reported in the May 2002 issue of the Journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, researchers did functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI scans on 16 FM patients and 16 healthy people. They did the scans under two conditions: first, when the person was feeling slight pressure on the thumb; and second, when the person was feeling moderately painful pressure on the thumb. This brain scan test shows where the brain is active.
Healthy people's brains only became active when they felt the painful pinch. But the brain of the fibromaylgia patients became highly active even when there was only slight pressure. So there are a variety of response levels depending on the hypersensitivity of your nervous system. At the University of Texas they are trying to prove how the painful response can be different from one person to the next, and that the pain is real. Also there are realizing that there are other sensory areas that are affected, including mood centers also.
A researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center explains in a WebMD article that the brain is a very complex organ, and that many factors cause variations in how the brain senses information. Pain that is felt by people with fibromyalgia is due to their level of sensory processing. A heighened awareness in th nervous system can be the cause of the chronic pain. http://www.webmd.com/content/article/48/39261.htm?z=1728_00000_1000_ln_03
Gulf War Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
I have also been reading more about the relationship between Gulf War Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. More and more people are related the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome – chronc fatigue, intermittent fevers, night sweats, muscle pain, headaches, short-term memory issues, depression, and digestive imbalances such as diarrhea and bloating – to similar assoicated conditions in fibromyalgia. From a seminar I just attended, this relationship of these symptoms may be related to many of the symptoms related to most auto-immune diseases. If we can reverse these symptoms by reducing the underlying inflammatory response causing them, we can avoid most auto-immune diseases, including fibromyalgia.
Reduce Inflammation to Improve Fibromyalgia Symptoms
There are many ways to reduce inflammation. Diet is very important. An Anti-Inflammatory diet is very important, and can be found on my Fibromyalgia website. You will see from the diet listing that eating vegetables is the main part of the diet. Are you getting the vegetables you need every day? Remember that it is now recommended that we need a minimum of 9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day to prevent immune diseases, and most those should be vegetables. I know I take extra Juice Plus+ vegetables every day so that I get the extra vegetables that I need in case I cannot get all the ones from foods in my diet. Juice Plus+
I also recommend a couple specific Metagenics products to clients who are dealing with lack of energy, and excess free radicals. Mitochondrial Resuscitate is nutritional combination that helps support cellular energy production (ATP), and reduces oxidative stress from excess free radicals. It contains Alpha lipoic acid, acetyl l –cartinitine together for energy production, and is supported with N-Acetylcysteine, glutathione, and grape seed extract to take stress off the liver. It is recommended to take 4 tablets per day.
The other Antioxidant formula I recommend is designed to get the liver functioning better, so that you can get rid of free radicals efficiently. It is called Oxygenics, and has herbs along with glutathione improve circulation, reduce pain, and keep the liver detox phases working properly. I recommend this supplement in conjunction with Juice Plus+ to improve each other’s action especially in people with immune system weaknesses. To learn more about the Metagenics products go to my Metagenics website
Look forward to additional information on auto-immune disease prevention in following newsletters. With what I learned at this seminar, I now know that we have to keep our immune systems functioning as well as possible or we will more easily than ever fall into a auto-immune disease reaction. There are now over 35 million Americans that have not been diagnosed with auto-immune diseases, but are on the verge if they do not act quickly.
Jane Oelke, N.D., Ph.D.
Natural Choices, Inc.
"Building Your Health Naturally"
DoctorOelke@aol.com
www.NaturalChoicesForYou.com
www.NaturalChoicesforFibromyalgia.com
1-888-893-7225
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