Researchers from L. Sacco University Hospital in Milan, Italy review underlying mechanisms that produce fibromyalgia (FM), and summarize viable treatment options.

Researchers from L. Sacco University Hospital in Milan, Italy review underlying mechanisms that produce fibromyalgia (FM), and summarize viable treatment options. The authors state that emerging evidence points to problems with augmented pain processing within the central nervous system holding a primary role in the pathophysiology of this disorder. There have been identified distinct FM subgroups on the basis of clinical, neurochemical, and neuroendocrinological abnormalities. These include increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of substance P; excitatory amino acids; and functional abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, as well as in the sympathoadrenal (autonomic nervous) system. The article goes into how pharmacological treatments have been gradually enriched by a variety of compounds with varying results. These include antidepressants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, sedatives, muscle relaxants, and alpha2-delta agonists. They state that physical exercise and multimodal cognitive-behavioral therapy appear to be the most widely accepted and beneficial forms of nonpharmacological therapy. Citation: Sarzi-Puttini P, Atzeni F, Cazzola M. Neuroendocrine therapy of fibromyalgia syndrome: an update. Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 2010 Apr; 1193 (1): pages 91-7. So....it seems to me if our thoughts get interpreted into emotions in our hypothalamus and there is a dysfunction in the H-P-A axis, we have a perfect place for hypnotherapy to work. If there is augmented pain processing...again a perfect place for hypnosis which has been recognized by the NIH to help with pain management.