August 2013 References   Devin J. Starlanyl   for http://www.sover.net/~devstar

Bernik M, Sampaio TP, Gandarela L. 2013. Fibromyalgia comorbid with anxiety disorders and depression: combined medical and psychological treatment. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 17(9):358.  “Fibromyalgia is associated with high level of pain and suffering. Lack of diagnosis leads to onerous indirect economic costs. Recent data indicate that fibromyalgia; anxiety disorders, and depression tend to occur as comorbid conditions. They also share some common neurochemical dysfunctions and central nervous system alterations such as hypofunctional serotonergic system and altered reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Conversely, functional neuroimaging findings point to different patterns of altered pain processing mechanisms between fibromyalgia and depression. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, and treatment response effect size is usually small to moderate. Treatment should be based on drugs that also target the comorbid psychiatric condition. Combined pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavior therapy should ideally be offered to all patients. Lifestyle changes, such as physical exercise should be encouraged. The message to patients should be that all forms of pain are true medical conditions and deserve proper care.”

Chang FY, Lu CL. 2013. Irritable bowel syndrome and migraine: bystanders or partners? J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 19(3):301-311. “Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and migraine are distinct clinical disorders. Apart from the characteristics of chronic and recurrent pain in nature, these pain-related disorders apparently share many similarities. For example, IBS is female predominant with community prevalence about 5-10%, whereas that of migraine is 1-3% also showing female predominance. They are often associated with many somatic and psychiatric comorbidities in terms of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis, insomnia and depression etc., even the IBS subjects may have coexisted migraine with an estimated odds ratio of 2.66. They similarly reduce the quality of life of victims leading to the social, medical and economic burdens. Their pathogeneses have been somewhat addressed in relation to biopsychosocial dysfunction, heredity, genetic polymorphism, central/visceral hypersensitivity, somatic/cutaneous allodynia, neurolimbic pain network, gonadal hormones and abuses etc. Both disorders are diagnosed according to the symptomatically based criteria. Multidisciplinary managements such as receptor target new drugs, melatonin, antispasmodics, and psychological drugs and measures, complementary and alternatives etc. are recommended to treat them although the used agents may not be necessarily the same. Finally, the prognosis of IBS is pretty good, whereas that of migraine is less fair since suicide attempt and stroke are at risk. In conclusion, both distinct chronic pain disorders to share many similarities among various aspects probably suggest that they may locate within the same spectrum of a pain-centered disorder such as central sensitization syndromes.”

Chaves TC, Nagamine HM, de Sousa LM et al. 2013. Differences in pain perception in children reporting joint and orofacial muscle pain. J Clin Pediatr Dent. 37(3):321-327. “MP (myofascial pain) more accurately differentiated symptomatic subjects from symptom-free TMD (temporomandibular dysfunction) subjects, and PPT (pressure point threshold) values were more sensitive to the discrimination of pain in the orofacial sites assessed. In addition, the changes in perception at a larger number of sites among children reporting mixed pain may suggest the presence of a possible mechanism of central sensitization.”

Coluzzi F, Valensise H, Sacco M et al. 2013. Chronic pain management in pregnancy and lactation. Minerva Anestesiol. [Jul 15 Epub ahead of print]. “During pregnancy, most women will experience some kind of pain, either as a result of a pre-existing condition (low back pain, headache, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis) or as a direct consequence of pregnancy (weight gain, postural changes, pelvic floor dysfunction, hormonal factors). However, chronic pain management during pregnancy and lactation remains a challenge for clinicians and pregnant women are at risk of undertreatment for painful conditions, because of fear about use of drugs during pregnancy. Few analgesic drugs have been demonstrated to be absolutely contraindicated during pregnancy and breastfeeding, but studies in pregnant women are not available for most of pain medications. The aim of this paper is to review the safety profile in pregnancy or lactation of the commonly prescribed pain medications and non-pharmacological treatments.”

Cordero MD, Alcocer-Gomez E, Culic O et al. 2013. NLRP3 Inflammasome is activated in Fibromyalgia: the effect of Coenzyme Q10. Antioxid Redox Signal. [Jul 25 Epub ahead of print].  “These results show an important role for the NLRP3 inflammasome in the pathogenesis of FM, and the capacity of CoQ10 in the control of inflammasome. Conclusions: These findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis of FM and suggest that NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition represents a new therapeutic intervention for the disease.”

Cruz-Almeida Y, King CD, Goodin BR et al. 2013. Psychological profiles and pain characteristics of older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). [Jul 16 Epub ahead of print]. “The main objectives were to identify psychological profiles in persons with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine the relationship between these profiles and specific pain and sensory characteristics including temporal summation and conditioned pain modulation. Methods: Individuals with knee OA (n=194) completed psychological, health and sensory assessments. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to derive psychological profiles that were compared across several clinical pain/disability and experimental pain responses. Results: Cluster 1 had high optimism with low negative affect, pain vigilance, anger and depression along with the lowest self-reported pain/disability and the lowest sensitivity to mechanical, pressure and thermal pain…. Cluster 2 had low positive affect with high somatic reactivity while Cluster 3 showed high pain vigilance with low optimism. Clusters 2 and 3 had intermediate levels of self-reported pain/disability and Cluster 3 experienced central sensitization to mechanical stimuli. Participants in Cluster 3 also displayed significant pain facilitation…. Cluster 4 exhibited the lowest positive affect with the highest pain vigilance, reactivity, negative affect, anger and depression. These individuals experienced the highest self-reported pain/disability including widespread pain…. Cluster 4 was most sensitive to mechanical, pressure and thermal stimuli and showed significant central sensitization to mechanical and thermal stimuli…. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the existence of homogeneous psychological profiles displaying unique sets of clinical and somatosensory characteristics. Multidisciplinary treatment approaches consistent with the biopsychosocial model of pain should provide significant advantages if targeted to profiles such as those in our OA sample.”

de Souza Nascimento S, Desantana JM, Nampo FK et al. 2013. Efficacy and safety of medicinal plants or related natural products for fibromyalgia: a systematic review. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. [Jun 4 Epub ahead of print.] “To assess the effects of medicinal plants (MPs) or related natural products (RNPs) on fibromyalgia (FM) patients, we evaluate the possible benefits and advantages of MP or RNP for the treatment of FM based on eight randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) involving 475 patients. The methodological quality of all studies included was determined according to JADAD and "Risk of Bias" with the criteria in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 5.1.0. Evidence suggests significant benefits of MP or RNP in sleep disruption, pain, depression, joint stiffness, anxiety, physical function, and quality of life. Our results demonstrated that MP or RNP had significant effects on improving the symptoms of FM compared to conventional drug or placebo; longer tests are required to determine the duration of the treatment and characterize the long-term safety of using MP, thus suggesting effective alternative therapies in the treatment of pain with minimized side effects. “

Di Girolamo S, Pisani V, Di Girolamo M et al. 2013. Atypical facial pain secondary to an unusual iatrogenic endonasal "contact point". Pain Med. 14(1):167-168.

Dimitrov EL, Kuo J, Kohno K et al. 2013. Neuropathic and inflammatory pain is modulated by tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. [Jul 22 Epub ahead of print].

“Nociceptive information is modulated by a large number of endogenous signaling agents that change over the course of recovery from injury. This plasticity makes understanding regulatory mechanisms involved in descending inhibition of pain scientifically and clinically important. Neurons that synthesize the neuropeptide TIP39 project to many areas that modulate nociceptive information. These areas are enriched in its receptor, the parathyroid hormone 2 receptor (PTH2R). We previously found that TIP39 affects several acute nociceptive responses, leading us to now investigate its potential role in chronic pain…. These results suggest that TIP39 signaling modulates sensory thresholds via effects on glutamatergic transmission to brainstem GABAergic interneurons that innervate noradrenergic neurons. TIP39's normal role may be to inhibit release of hypoalgesic amounts of norepinephrine during chronic pain. The neuropeptide may help maintain central sensitization, which could serve to enhance guarding behavior.”

Durand M, Mach N. 2013. [Alpha lipoic acid and its antioxidant against cancer and diseases of central sensitization.]  Nutr Hosp. 28(4):1031-1038. [Article in Spanish]. “The ALA (alpha lipoic acid) plays a significant role as antioxidant and prooxidant in cancer and central sensitization diseases, although more extensive studies are required to determine the clinical significance in humans.”

Fava A, Plastino M, Cristiano D et al. 2013. Insulin resistance possible risk factor for cognitive impairment in fibromyalgic patients. Metab Brain Dis. [Jul 28 Epub ahead of print]. “The results of this study suggest that IR (insulin resistance) may represent a risk factor for memory impairment in fibromyalgic patients.”  [We have found IR to be a common interactive co-existing condition with both FM and CMP, and mentioned it as a cause of cognitive deficits in “Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain: A Survival Guide”. DJS]

Fischer SG, Collins S, Boogaard S et al. 2013. Intravenous magnesium for chronic complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1). Pain Med. [Jul 25 Epub ahead of print]. “Administration of the physiological competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist magnesium in chronic CRPS (chronic regional pain syndrome) provides insufficient benefit over placebo. Future research should focus on patients with acute CRPS and early signs and symptoms of central sensitization.”

Gerdle B, Larsson B, Forsberg F et al. 2013. Chronic Widespread Pain: Increased Glutamate and Lactate Concentrations in the Trapezius Muscle and Plasma. Clin J Pain. [Jul 24 Epub ahead of print]. “The present study supports the suggestion that aspects of pain and central alterations in CWP/FM are influenced by peripheral tissue alterations.”

Gorenberg M, Schwartz K. 2013. Imaging-guided hyperstimulation analgesia in low back pain. J Pain Res. 6:487-491. “Low back pain in patients with myofascial pain syndrome is characterized by painful active myofascial trigger points (ATPs) in muscles. This article reviews a novel, noninvasive modality that combines simultaneous imaging and treatment, thus taking advantage of the electrodermal information available from imaged ATPs to deliver localized neurostimulation, to stimulate peripheral nerve endings…. and in turn, to release endogenous endorphins. ‘Hyperstimulation analgesia’ with localized, intense, low-rate electrical pulses applied to painful ATPs was found to be effective in 95% patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain, in a clinical validation study.”

Han J, Waddington G, Adams R et al. 2013. Ability to discriminate movements at multiple joints around the body: global or site-specific. Percept Mot Skills. 116(1):59-68. This finding extends a previous report of non-significantly correlated proprioception test scores at two lower limb sites, and the findings taken together suggest that rather than proprioception being a global, general ability, sensitivity to the proprioception that underlies movement control is site-specific. [This proprioceptive dysfunction may relate to TrPs. DJS]

Hillstrom HJ, Buckland MA, Slevin CM et al. 2013. Effect of shoe flexibility on plantar loading in children learning to walk. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 103(4):297-305. This study from the Motion Analysis Laboratory of New York Rehabilitation Department, Hospital for Special Surgery, suggests that increased shoe flexibility helps foot health. “This mechanical feedback may enhance proprioception, which is a desirable attribute for children learning to walk.” [Good for adults, too. DJS]

Huskey AM, Thomas CC, Waddell JA. 2013. Occurrence of milnacipran-associated morbilliform rash and serotonin toxicity. Ann Pharmacother. 47(7-8):e32. “A 57-year-old white female presented to the emergency department because of a full-body morbilliform rash, which appeared 9 days after initiation of milnacipran 50 mg twice daily. In the emergency department the patient's vital signs were: heart rate 121 beats/min, blood pressure 180/100 mm Hg, and temperature 38.9 °C. The patient reported diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, restlessness, and increased muscle pain. Her history included recurrent breast cancer first diagnosed in 1999, hypertension, fibromyalgia, depression, osteopenia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, insomnia, and endometriosis. Her home medications included milnacipran, fluoxetine, alprazolam, zolpidem, zoledronic acid, anastrozole, doxepin, ranitidine, levocetirizine, doxazosin, tramadol, vitamin D, and ferrous gluconate. The patient's increased heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, as well as restlessness, self-reported diarrhea and nausea, and self-reported increase in muscle pain, indicated serotonin toxicity. Milnacipran, fluoxetine, and tramadol were discontinued, while doxepin was continued. Treatment consisted of acetaminophen, diphenhydramine, methylprednisolone, promethazine, and hydralazine 10 mg intravenously. The following morning all vital signs were within normal limits and the patient's diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, restlessness, and muscle pain resolved. She was discharged the following morning. The rash had resolved after day 2 of hospital discharge, which was the fourth day after discontinuation of milnacipran….It is important to increase awareness of the possibility of developing morbilliform rash and serotonin toxicity with milnacipran therapy, as both conditions can be associated with poor outcomes if not detected early and treated appropriately.”

Jiang CF, Lin YC, Yu NY. 2013. Multi-scale surface electromyography modeling to identify changes in neuromuscular activation with myofascial pain. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 21(1):88-95.  “To solve the limitations in using the conventional parametric measures to define myofascial pain, a 3-D multi-scale wavelet energy variation graph is proposed as a way to inspect the pattern of surface electromyography (SEMG) variation between the dominant and nondominant sides at different frequency scales during a muscle contraction cycle and the associated changes with the upper-back myofascial pain. The model was developed based on the property of the wavelet energy of the SEMG signal revealing the degree of correspondence between the shape of the motor unit action potential and the wavelet waveform at a certain scale in terms of the frequency band. The characteristic pattern of the graph for each group (30 normal and 26 patient subjects) was first derived and revealed the dominant-hand effect and the changes with myofascial pain. Through comparison of individual graphs across subjects, we found that the graph pattern reveals a sensitivity of 53.85% at a specificity of 83.33% in the identification of myofascial pain. The changes in these patterns provide insight into the transformation between different fiber recruitment, which cannot be explored using conventional SEMG features. Therefore, this multi-scale analysis model could provide a reliable SEMG features to identify myofascial pain.”

Kaya S, Hermans L, Willems T et al. 2013. Central sensitization in urogynecological chronic pelvic pain: a systematic literature review. Pain Physician. 16(4):291-308. “Although the majority of the literature provides evidence for the presence of CS (central sensitization) in urogynecological CPP (chronic pelvic pain) with changes in brain morphology/function and sensory function, it is unclear whether these changes in central pain processing are secondary or primary to CPP, especially since evidence regarding the function of endogenous pain inhibition and the role of psychosocial pain facilitation is scarce. Further studies with good methodological quality are needed in order to clarify exact mechanisms.”

Kim SC, Landon JE, Solomon DH. 2013. Clinical characteristics and medication uses among fibromyalgia patients newly prescribed amitriptyline, duloxetine, gabapentin or pregabalin. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). [Jul 16 Epub ahead of print]. “Fibromyalgia is a common chronic pain disorder with unclear etiology. No definitive treatment is available for fibromyalgia and treatment with antidepressants or antiepileptics is often used for symptom management …. Back pain was the most frequent comorbidity in all four groups (48%-64%) and hypertension, headache, depression, and sleep disorder were also common. Median daily dose at the start of follow-up was 25mg for amitriptyline, 60mg for duloxetine, 300mg for gabapentin, and 75mg for pregabalin and more than 60% of patients remained on the same dose throughout the follow-up period. Only one fifth of patients continued the treatment started for at least one year. The mean number of different prescription drugs at baseline ranged from 8 to 10 across the groups. More than a half of patients used opioids and a third used benzodiazepines, sleep disorder drugs and muscle relaxants….Patients who started one of the four common drugs for fibromyalgia similarly had multiple comorbidities and other fibromyalgia-related drug use, but continued the treatment only for a short time. The dose of the four drugs was not increased in most patients during the follow-up.”

Kotarinos R. 2012. Myofascial pelvic pain. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 16(5):433-438.

“Myofascial pelvic pain is fraught with many unknowns. Is it the organs of the pelvis, is it the muscles of the pelvis, or is the origin of the pelvic pain from an extrapelvic muscle? Is there a single source or multiple? In this state of confusion what is the best way to manage the many symptoms that can be associated with myofascial pelvic pain. This article reviews current studies that attempt to answer some of these questions. More questions seem to develop as each study presents its findings.”

Larson AA, Pardo JV, Pasley JD. 2013. Review of Overlap between Thermoregulation and Pain Modulation in Fibromyalgia. Clin J Pain. [Jul 24 Epub ahead of print]. “Fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is characterized by widespread pain that is exacerbated by cold and stress but relieved by warmth. We review the points along thermal and pain pathways where temperature may influence pain. We also present evidence addressing the possibility that brown adipose tissue activity is linked to the pain of FM given that cold initiates thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue through adrenergic activity, whereas warmth suspends thermogenesis. Although females have a higher incidence of FM and more resting thermogenesis, they are less able to recruit brown adipose tissue in response to chronic stress than males. In addition, conditions that are frequently comorbid with FM compromise brown adipose activity making it less responsive to sympathetic stimulation. This results in lower body temperatures, lower metabolic rates, and lower circulating cortisol/corticosterone in response to stress-characteristics of FM. In the periphery, sympathetic nerves to brown adipose also project to surrounding tissues, including tender points characterizing FM. As a result, the musculoskeletal hyperalgesia associated with conditions such as FM may result from referred pain in the adjacent muscle and skin.”

Lyons KS, Jones KD, Bennett RM et al. 2013. Couple perceptions of fibromyalgia symptoms: The role of communication. Pain. [Jul 18 Epub ahead of print]. “The objectives of the current study were to 1) describe fibromyalgia patient-spouse incongruence regarding patient pain, fatigue, and physical function and 2) examine the associations of individual and interpersonal factors with patient-spouse incongruence. Two hundred four fibromyalgia patients and their co-residing partners rated the patient's symptoms and function. Multilevel modeling revealed that spouses, on average, rated patient fatigue significantly lower than patients. Couple incongruence was not significantly different from zero, on average, for pain severity, interference, or physical function. However, there was significant variability across couples in how they rated the severity of symptoms and function, and how much incongruence existed within couples. Controlling for individual factors, patient and spouse reports of communication problems were significantly associated with levels of couple incongruence regarding patient fatigue and physical function, albeit in opposing directions. Across couples, incongruence was high when patients rated communication problems as high; incongruence was low when spouses rated communication problems as high. An important within-couple interaction was found for pain interference suggesting couples who are similar on level of communication problems experience low incongruence; those with disparate ratings of communication problems experience high incongruence. Findings suggest the important roles of spouse response and the patient's perception of how well the couple is communicating. Couple-level interventions targeting communication or other interpersonal factors may help to decrease incongruence and lead to better patient outcomes.”

Marcus DA, Bernstein CD, Haq A. 2013. Including a range of outcome targets offers a broader view of fibromyalgia treatment outcome: results from a retrospective review of multidisciplinary treatment. Musculoskeletal Care. [Jul 23 Epub ahead of print]. “Despite modest albeit statistically significant improvements in standard measures of pain severity and the FIQ (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire), more substantial pain improvement was noted when utilizing alternative measures of pain and functional improvement. Alternative symptom assessment measures might be important outcome measures to include in drug and non-drug studies to better understand fibromyalgia treatment effectiveness.”

Mease PJ, Farmer MV, Palmer RH et al. 2013. Milnacipran combined with pregabalin in fibromyalgia: a randomized, open-label study evaluating the safety and efficacy of adding milnacipran in patients with incomplete response to pregabalin. Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 5(3):113-126. “In this exploratory, open-label study, adding milnacipran to pregabalin improved global status, pain, and other symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia with an incomplete response to pregabalin treatment.”  [See: Huskey AM, Thomas CC, Waddell JA. 2013. Occurrence of milnacipran-associated morbilliform rash and serotonin toxicity. Ann Pharmacother. 47(7-8):e32.  Look at the peripheral pain generators, and treat those.  DJS]

Meeus M, Goubert D, De Backer F et al. 2013. Heart rate variability in patients with fibromyalgia and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. [Jul 6 Epub ahead of print]. “FM patients show more HRV (heart rate variability) aberrances and indices of increased sympathetic activity. Increased sympathetic activity is only present in CFS patients at night. Since direct comparisons are lacking and some confounders have to be taken into account, further research is warranted. The role of pain and causality can be subject of further research, as well as therapy studies directed to reduced HRV.”

Moldwin RM, Fariello JY. 2013. Myofascial trigger points of the pelvic floor; Associations with urological pain syndromes and treatment strategies including injection therapy.  Curr Urol Rep Aug 14.[Epub ahead of print] “Myofascial trigger points (MTrP), or muscle ‘contraction knots’, of the pelvic floor may be identified in as many as 85% of patients suffering from urological, colorectal and gynecological pelvic pain syndromes; and can be responsible for some, if not all, symptoms related to these syndromes. Identification and conservative treatment of MTrPs in these populations has often been associated with impressive clinical improvements. In refractory cases, more ‘aggressive’ therapy with varied trigger point needling techniques, including dry needling, anesthetic injections, or botulinum toxin A injections m, may be used, in combination with conservative therapies.”

Molina J, Dos Santos FH, Terreri MT et al. 2012. Sleep, stress, neurocognitive profile and health-related quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic musculoskeletal pain. Clinics (Sao Paulo). 67(10):1139-1144. Adolescents with idiopathic musculoskeletal pain did not exhibit cognitive impairments. However, adolescents with idiopathic musculoskeletal pain did experience intermediate to advanced psychological distress and lower health-related quality of life, which may increase their risk of cognitive dysfunction in the future.

Oncu J, Basoglu F, Kuran B. 2013. A comparison of impact of fatigue on cognitive, physical, and psychosocial status in patients with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int. [Jul 24 Epub ahead of print]. This study from turkey found “Fatigue has different impacts on QoL (quality of life) in FM and RA, respectively. Together with pain, fatigue leads FM patients to see disease as having worse health in terms of mental function, whereas it leads to poor health in terms of physical function in RA.”

Pastore A, Lanna M, Lombardo N et al. 2013. Intravenous infusion of magnesium sulphate during subarachnoid anesthesia in hip surgery and its effect on postoperative analgesia: our experience. Transl Med UniSa. 5:18-21. “Magnesium sulphate is the drug of choice in case of eclampsia, and pre-eclampsia (for the risk of evolution in eclampsia). According to the most recent findings, this drug has also analgesic properties: its use as an adjunct to analgesia is based on a non-competitive antagonism towards the NMDA receptor and on the blocking of calcium channels: these properties prevent the mechanisms of central sensitization due to nociceptive stimulation of peripheral nerves.” [This study suggests that magnesium sulphate might prevent the development of central sensitization.] [Other studies show that once central sensitization has developed, magnesium sulphate will not reverse central sensitization.  See: Pain Med. 2013 Jul 25. [Epub ahead of print] Intravenous magnesium for chronic complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1). Fischer SG, Collins S, Boogaard S et al.  DJS]

Payne P, Crane-Godreau MA. 2012. Meditative movement for depression and anxiety. Front Psychiatry. 4:71. This review from Dartmouth “…focuses on Meditative Movement (MM) and its effects on anxiety, depression, and other affective states. MM is a term identifying forms of exercise that use movement in conjunction with meditative attention to body sensations, including proprioception, interoception, and kinesthesis. MM includes the traditional Chinese methods of Qigong (Chi Kung) and Taijiquan (Tai Chi), some forms of Yoga, and other Asian practices, as well as Western Somatic practices; however this review focuses primarily on Qigong and Taijiquan…. Results suggest that MM may be at least as effective as conventional exercise or other interventions in ameliorating anxiety and depression; however, study quality is generally poor and there are many confounding factors. This makes it difficult to draw definitive conclusions at this time. We suggest, however, that more research is warranted, and we offer specific suggestions for ensuring high-quality and productive future studies.”

Pinals RS, Hassett AL. 2013. Reconceptualizing John F. Kennedy's Chronic Low Back Pain.

Reg Anesth Pain Med. [Jul 29 Epub ahead of print]. “When the medical records for John Fitzgerald Kennedy were made public, it became clear that the 35th President of the United States suffered greatly from a series of medical illnesses from the time he was a toddler until his assassination in November of 1963. Aside from having Addison disease, no condition seemed to cause him more distress than did his chronic low back pain. A number of surgical procedures to address the presumed structural cause of the pain resulted in little relief and increased disability. Later, a conservative program, including trigger point injections and exercises, provided modest benefit. Herein, the mechanisms underlying his pain are evaluated based on more contemporary pain research. This reconceptualizing of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's pain could serve as a model for other cases where the main cause of the pain is presumed to be located in the periphery.”

Rayhan RU, Ravindran MK, Baraniuk JN. 2013. Migraine in gulf war illness and chronic fatigue syndrome: prevalence, potential mechanisms, and evaluation. Front Physiol. 4:181. “The high prevalence of migraine in CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) was confirmed and extended to GWI (gulf war illness) subjects. GWI and CFS may share dysfunctional central pathophysiological pathways that contribute to migraine and subjective symptoms. The high migraine prevalence warrants the inclusion of a structured headache evaluation in GWI and CFS subjects, and treatment when present.”

Sorond FA, Hurwitz S, Salat De et al. 2013. Neurovascular coupling, cerebral white matter integrity, and response to cocoa in older people. Neurology Aug 7 [Epub ahead of print] Neurovascular coupling is associated with cognitive function. Both can be improved in individuals with impaired cognitive function between the ages of about 67 to 78 if they consume cocoa every day. 

Uemoto L, Nascimento de Azevedo R, Almeida Alfaya T et al. 2013. Myofascial trigger point therapy: laser therapy and dry needling. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 17(9):357. “The aim of the present review is to discuss two forms of treatment for myofascial pain: laser therapy and dry needling. Although studies have reported the deactivation of myofascial trigger points with these two methods, clinical trials demonstrating their efficacy are scarce. The literature reports greater efficacy with the use of laser over dry needling. It has been suggested that improvements in microcirculation through the administration of laser therapy may favor the supply of oxygen to the cells under conditions of hypoxia and help remove the waste products of cell metabolism, thereby breaking the vicious cycle of pain, muscle spasm and further pain. While laser therapy is the method of choice for patients with a fear of needles and healthcare professionals inexperienced with the dry needling technique, further controlled studies are still needed to prove the greater efficacy of this method.”

Vulfsons S, Ratmansky M, Kalichman L. 2012. Trigger point needling: techniques and outcome. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 16(5):407-412. “In this review we provide the updates on last years' advancements in basic science, imaging methods, efficacy, and safety of dry needling of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). The latest studies confirmed that dry needling is an effective and safe method for the treatment of MTrPs when provided by adequately trained physicians or physical therapists. Recent basic studies have confirmed that at the site of an active MTrP there are elevated levels of inflammatory mediators, known to be associated with persistent pain states and myofascial tenderness and that this local milieu changes with the occurrence of local twitch response. Two new modalities, sonoelastography and magnetic resonance elastography, were recently introduced allowing noninvasive imaging of MTrPs. MTrP dry needling, at least partially, involves supraspinal pain control via midbrain periaqueductal gray matter activation. A recent study demonstrated that distal muscle needling reduces proximal pain by means of the diffuse noxious inhibitory control. Therefore, in a patient too sensitive to be needled in the area of the primary pain source, the treatment can be initiated with distal needling.”

Yuan SL, Berssaneti AA, Marques AP. 2013. Effects of Shiatsu in the Management of Fibromyalgia Symptoms: A Controlled Pilot Study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. [Jul 4 Epub ahead of print]. “This pilot study showed the potential of Shiatsu in the improvement of pain intensity, pressure pain threshold, sleep quality, and symptoms impact on health of patients with fibromyalgia.” 

Yun DJ, Choi HN, Oh GS. 2013. A case of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome associated with migraine and fibromyalgia. Korean J Pain. 26(3):303-306. “Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) refers to the presence of orthostatic intolerance with a heart rate (HR) increment of 30 beats per minute (bpm) or an absolute HR of 120 bpm or more. There are sporadic reports of the autonomic nervous system dysfunction in migraine and fibromyalgia. We report a case of POTS associated with migraine and fibromyalgia. The patient was managed with multidisciplinary therapies involving medication, education, and exercise which resulted in symptomatic improvement. We also review the literature on the association between POTS, migraine, and fibromyalgia.”