Mayo Clinic Study: Fibromyalgia Symptoms Relieved With Acupunctue

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Mayo Clinic Study: Fibromyalgia Symptoms Relieved With Acupunctue.

Fibromyalgia patients treated with six sessions of acupuncture

experienced significant symptomatic improvement compared to a group

given simulated acupuncture sessions, according to a new Mayo Clinic

study

“This study shows there is something real about acupuncture and its

effects on fibromyalgia,” says , M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic

anesthesiologist and the study’s lead investigator. “Our study was

performed on patients with moderate to severe fibromyalgia.

" It’s my speculation that if acupuncture works for these patients

with recalcitrant fibromyalgia -- where previous treatments had not

provided satisfactory relief -- it would likely work for many of the

millions of fibromyalgia patients.” Acupuncture could fill a gap in

available therapies for the disease as something additive to what

medications already can provide, says Dr. .

“There’s not a cure available, so patients are often left somewhat

frustrated by continuing pain and fatigue,” he says. “Acupuncture is

one of the few things shown to be effective for these symptoms. It

may be particularly attractive to patients who are unable to take

medications because of intolerable side effects.”

The study, conducted by Mayo Clinic physicians specializing in pain

management, included 50 patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia for whom

other symptom-relief treatments were ineffective.

The patients were randomly assigned to receive acupuncture or

simulated acupuncture and were not informed which treatment they

received; these treatments were administered in six sessions over two

to three weeks.

All patients were given questionnaires before treatment, immediately

after treatment, and at one and seven months after treatment to

determine the degree of symptoms they experienced and how the disease

affected their daily lives. Patients who received acupuncture

experienced minimal side effects.

Following treatments, symptoms of pain, fatigue and anxiety were most

significantly improved in the patients given acupuncture. At seven

months post-treatment, the patients’ symptoms of pain, anxiety and

fatigue had returned to baseline levels; the patients experienced the

largest improvement at one month following treatment.

“We expected the acupuncture to improve the pain,” says Dr. .

“We didn’t really expect the largest benefit to be in fatigue or

anxiety.”

Dr. hypothesizes that acupuncture affects symptoms such as

anxiety and fatigue because it may target the root cause and not the

daily symptoms of fibromyalgia.

“In a Western view of medicine, we’re modulating sensory input

through acupuncture,” he says. “Whenever there’s an input to the

nervous system, it responds and adapts to the input -- sometimes in

ways that are beneficial to patients. This is not so different from

the traditional Eastern explanation of acupuncture that describes

needles as altering the flow of life energy, called Qi.”

The Mayo Clinic researchers noted that, although the patients saw

improvement in symptoms which had reduced activity level, physical

function did not increase even though the patients were less tired

and felt less pain.

“This doesn’t surprise me, as we see this pattern in other chronic

pain problems: you can relieve pain, but it’s a lot harder to prompt

activity changes,” says Dr. . “A chronically ill person needs

more than symptom relief to resume a normal lifestyle. We’re now

beginning to work on that problem.”

Dr. indicates that he believes the study patients would have

seen sustained improvement with ongoing acupuncture.

“It’s a reasonable expectation that if they received more acupuncture

after two to three months, they would have maintained their

improvement,” he says.

“Acupuncture usually works for about three months, and then patients

need a less-intensive treatment session. These patients would need

more acupuncture periodically for as long as they experience

fibromyalgia symptoms.”

The patients were unable to guess whether they had been given the

real or the simulated acupuncture.

“This was critical, because this had been a shortcoming of other

previous studies with acupuncture -- the simulated acupuncture

treatments were not believable to the patients,” says Dr. .

He explains that fibromyalgia patients have a nervous system disorder

in which they have a “revved up pain threshold” which is exacerbated

by stress and inadequate sleep.

“You can take blood tests, X-rays, muscle tests, and you will find

nothing abnormal,” he says.

“Many fibromyalgia patients suffer suspicion from their spouses and

friends that their symptoms are ‘all in their head’ or that they lack

sufficient will or fortitude to meet their obligations to work,

family and friends. Usually it comes as a welcome diagnosis when

these patients learn it’s fibromyalgia. Then they can learn ways to

cope with the disorder and gain strength from sharing with others who

have the same problems.”

Dr. describes the patients in this study as moderately

debilitated.

“Many have given up work, a lot of recreational activities, and made

adjustments in their lives,” he says. “They have had a significant

psychological burden as a result of the loss of these activities;

it’s become part of their identities.”

Dr. says he’d recommend acupuncture for patients who are

receptive to the concept. The acupuncture used in this study is

available in most communities.

To find a qualified acupuncturist, Dr. says, “Talk to your

doctor. Many physicians are open to complementary medical techniques

and can refer you to qualified practitioners in your area. There are

also excellent resources on the Internet from the National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (http://nccam.nih.gov). "

Joining Dr. in this research were Mayo Clinic investigators

Sletten, Ph.D.;, Ines Berger, M.D. (currently practicing

at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta), and Brent .

August 27, 2005