By Dr Janet Hull

www.janethull.com/newsletter/0509/how_to_prevent_the_swine_flu.php

Listen to the radio, watch television, read any newspaper – swine flu is creating a panic. Jury trials are postponed, public events have been cancelled, school districts are shut down, and President Obama says the horse is out of the barn – now what do we do?
First, you don’t panic and second, you activate some serious good sense and some nutritional ER!
Prevention is what all human beings must practice daily to avoid any threat to their safety. You change the oil in your car to prevent your engine from burning and cracking, don’t you? You rotate your tires regularly to prevent wear and tear on your tires to prevent an unexpected flat, don’t you? You balance your bank checking account to prevent bouncing checks, I assume.
So, to prevent catching the flu, take extra supplements to boost your immune system when the threat of a flu outbreak is eminent. Here are some tips that we all should do daily to prevent exposing our bodies to any disease, and don’t just practice these health tips in the eleventh hour when a outbreak of a virus or bacteria or pollutant looms near; practice these daily, for the rest of your life to prevent exposure to ALL those nasty bugs that threaten your immune strength!
• Avoid chemicals in your diet. Not only have most food chemicals been proven to cause disease, but also, they offer your body NO NUTRITION. They are NOT nutrient sources, and they wear the body down because your body cannot process them nor use them in any healthy way. THIS breaks down your immune system, and opens the barn door to disease and viruses like the swine flu.
• Eat healthy foods at every meal and snack. This offers your body the tools it needs to stay strong, so when you are exposed to a virus, your body can excrete that toxin before it takes hold of you.
• Maintain a healthy vitamin supplement program, regularly. Back in the 1960s when the quality of food was more natural and processed foods were not as predominant as today, doctors used to say that taking vitamins was a waste of time and money. That belief has gone out of style along with the VW van and big bubble-cut, hair bobs. With the depletion of healthy soils, plus the chemicals added to both farmland and the plants and animals grown on those grasslands, and with the number of fake food chemicals saturating our food supply, human beings need to add natural nutrients into their daily lives through high-quality vitamins and minerals. And this need begins at a very young age. For those that maintain a healthy vitamin and mineral protocol, their immune systems stay strong, and they suffer less colds and flu, and they typically do not fall victim to degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, cancer, or flu epidemics. Do you ever wonder why your neighbor is always sick, but you are not?
• Take an extra antioxidant supplement when pandemic disease is a threat. An extra antioxidant is good to take when your immune system is compromised, at any time. If you smoke, if you have been diagnosed with a degenerative disease, if you have chronic allergies, if you have Candida or any chronic fungal or bacterial issues, or if you want to prevent catching the swine flu, taking an extra antioxidant supplement is a very wise thing to do.
• Increase you vitamin C to bowel tolerance. I have repeatedly written about the critical need of using vitamin C daily for health! Humans do not make their own vitamin C in their liver, like all other animals do. When THEY are exposed to toxins, viruses, and other elements that weaken their immune systems, all other animals produce as much vitamin C as needed to combat the unhealthy invader. So if your cat or dog is exposed to the swine flu, it will kick in its immune system, produce more vitamin C needed to destroy a virulent disease, it will sleep more, eat less, and drink more water to allow its body to win over the toxin. Humans must do the same, but if you are not eating and drinking whole foods to supply you extra vitamin C to prevent catching the flu or a cold, then you MUST supply that through a quality vitamin C supplement from pure ascorbic acid.
How do you know how much extra vitamin C to take? Well, here is your first clue that you need it, especially if you are getting sick: your stools will begin to dry up, and you may become constipated or have difficulty having a complete bowel movement. At this first clue, increase your ascorbic acid by 1,000 mg a day, and you can do this three times a day if needed. When you have a loose stool for 2-3 days in a row, then begin backing down by 1,000 mg daily until you return to your normal bowel routine. This provides your immune system the extra defense mechanism needed to resist and excrete any viruses or other causes of disease.
• Sniff a solution of warm salt-water up your nostrils every night before bed. I was raised in Florida, and a dunk in the ocean can prevent many illnesses from getting into your body through your nose and mouth. When you keep nasty bugs and viruses from entering your body, and keep a pH balance in these cavities, you can prevent many colds and flu. Mix a solution of one-teaspoon sea salt with one-cup warm water. Cup your hand and sniff into one nostril at a time. Then bath your eyes with the salt-water solution, and gargle with the leftovers. You will have to blow your nose shortly afterwards because the solution will come right back out into your handkerchief, but the contagious elements will come out with it. You are blowing OUT of your body what would have GONE IN.
• Keep Lysol® on hand. Spraying Lysol on door handles, your telephone, on TV remotes, on your computer keyboard and mouse, and on anything that you “touch” is a good way to prevent spreading disease from a contact point into your body.
• Carry baby-wipes with you. Keep a travel pack of baby wipes in your car, briefcase, backpack or purse, and wipe off shopping cart handles, all kind of things in public restrooms, use at school, work, or in public activity centers.
If you do catch the swine flu, immediately activate all the recommendations above to help boost your immune system. Nutritional ER always compliments any medical efforts to remove the virus and restore your heath.
Wishing you healthy swine flu prevention. Now, go take a nap with your cat.

Serious Health Risks
Recalled Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products by Iovate Health Sciences Inc., of Oakville, Ontario and distributed by Iovate Health Sciences USA Inc. of Blasdell, N.Y. Some Hydroxycut products are associated with a number of serious liver injuries. Iovate has agreed to recall Hydroxycut products from the market.

Hydroxycut products are dietary supplements that are marketed for weight loss, as fat burners, as energy-enhancers, as low carb diet aids, and for water loss under the Iovate and MuscleTech brand names.

Serious Health Risks
FDA has received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of potential liver injury, to liver damage requiring liver transplant. One death due to liver failure has been reported to the FDA.

Liver injury, although rare, was reported by patients at the doses of Hydroxycut recommended on the bottle. Symptoms of liver injury include jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) and brown urine. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, excessive fatigue, weakness, stomach or abdominal pain, itching, and loss of appetite.

Other health problems reported include seizures; cardiovascular disorders; and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.

FDA urges consumers to stop using Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk, says Linda Katz, M.D., interim chief medical officer of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Adverse events are rare, but exist,” Katz says. “Consumers should consult a physician or other health care professional if they are experiencing symptoms possibly associated with these products.

Recalled Products
The list of products being recalled by Iovate currently includes:

Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Max Liquid Caplets
Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
Hydroxycut Hardcore RTDs (Ready-to-Drink)
Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed
Hydroxycut 24
Hydroxycut Carb Control
Hydroxycut Natural
Although FDA has not received reports of serious liver-related adverse reactions for all Hydroxycut products, Iovate has agreed to recall all the products listed above. Hydroxycut Cleanse and Hoodia products are not affected by the recall.

Consumers who have these products are advised to stop using them and to return them to the place of purchase. The agency has not yet determined which ingredients, dosages, or other health-related factors may be associated with risks related to these Hydroxycut products. The products contain a variety of ingredients and herbal extracts.

Health care professionals and consumers are encouraged to report serious adverse events (side effects) or product quality problems with the use of these products to FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, fax or phone.

Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
Regular Mail: Use FDA postage paid form 3500 found at: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm and mail to MedWatch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787
Fax: 800-FDA-0178
Phone: 800-FDA-1088

FDA continues to investigate the potential relationship between Hydroxycut dietary supplements and liver injury or other potentially serious side effects

Pollen grains from trees, grasses and weeds can float through the air in spring, summer or fall. But on their way to fertilize plants and tree flowers, pollen particles often end up in our noses, eyes, ears and mouths. The result can be sneezing spells, watery eyes, congestion and an itchy throat.

The collection of symptoms that affect the nose when you breathe in something you are allergic to is called allergic rhinitis; when the symptoms affect the eyes, it’s called allergic conjunctivitis. Allergic rhinitis caused by plant pollen is commonly called hay fever—although it’s not a reaction to hay and it doesn’t cause fever.

Pollen allergy affects about 1 out of 10 Americans, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). For some, symptoms can be controlled by using over-the-counter (OTC) medicine occasionally. Others have reactions that may more seriously disrupt the quality of their lives. Allergies can trigger or worsen asthma and lead to other health problems such as sinus infection (sinusitis) and ear infections in children.

“You can distinguish allergy symptoms from a cold because a cold tends to be short-lived, results in thicker nasal secretions, and is usually associated with sore throat, hoarseness, malaise, and fever,” says Badrul Chowdhury, M.D., Ph.D., an allergist and immunologist in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Many people with allergic rhinitis notice a seasonal pattern with their symptoms, but others may need a health care professional’s help to find out for sure if pollen is the source of their misery. If symptoms crop up year-round, dust mites, pet dander or another indoor allergy trigger (allergen) could be the culprit. This year-round condition is known as perennial allergic rhinitis.

When to Get Treatment

Chowdhury suggests seeing a health care professional if you experience allergies for the first time, your symptoms interfere with your ability to function, you don’t find relief from OTC drugs, or you experience allergy symptoms over a long period.

You may need an allergy test, the most common of which is a skin test that shows how you react to different allergens, including specific pollen allergens like ragweed and grass pollen.

Avoid Pollen

Once you know you have seasonal allergies, try to avoid pollen as much as possible, says Chowdhury. Pay attention to pollen counts and try to stay indoors when pollen levels are highest. Pollen counts measure how much pollen is in the air (pollen level) and are expressed in grains of pollen per square meter of air collected during a 24-hour period.

• In the late summer and early fall, during ragweed pollen season, pollen levels are highest in the morning.
• In the spring and summer, during the grass pollen season, pollen levels are highest in the evening.
• Some molds, another allergy trigger, may also be seasonal. For example, leaf mold is more common in the fall.
• Sunny, windy days can be especially troublesome for pollen allergy sufferers.

It may also help to

• keep windows closed in your house and car and run the air conditioner
• avoid mowing grass and doing other yard work, if possible

wear a face mask designed to filter pollen out of the air and keep it from reaching nasal passages.

By BigVil600

Presented by: Michele E. Mukatis

It is  that time of year; if you listen closely, you can hear the call – go get me greens – lettuces, arugula, parsley, and others. I want peas, radishes and asparagus to scrub winter’s sluggishness out of my system. Listen to that siren’s song. You may not like everything that your best friend, husband or children like, but your body will tell you what it needs.
Seasonal eating is not a new notion. People around the world have been doing it since the beginning of time and Ayurveda is a whole way of life designed around knowing your type and living seasonally.
In the winter, our bodies need to stock up on foods that will give us more to draw from to protect our bodies from the severe weather that happens in many climates. Apples, root vegetables, potatoes, onions, oils, heavier starches and meats are more readily available and will necessarily put on the pounds if you eat enough.
When spring arrives, the fruits and vegetables that grow well are designed to flush fat and extra pounds from your system. For instance, strawberries are very low in calories, but satisfy that sweet tooth that you get from winter produce. Lettuces and other greens as well as cabbages, broccoli, radishes, asparagus and peas, are full of fiber and astringent or bitter qualities, all of which help to flush fat.
At this point, you should be cutting down on the oils you intake, which means eating fewer nuts and less of the heavier, starchier grains as well as fattier meats. Bring millet, corn, rye and barley into your diet and eat less wheat and rice.
Of course, cutting down on the sugar intake is also key. All of those starchy sweet vegetables which were great over the winter will give way to the spring fruit such as strawberries in the early spring and cherries and blueberries as the season progresses. Use raw honey or agave nectar as a sweetener, instead of more processed sugars, to give you a boost, but keep it natural and easily digested.
Finally, you don’t need to make the switch overnight. Just as winter gives way to spring with highs and lows over a series of weeks, you can make the changes in your diet gradually. This is the best way to not stress your system.
As with anything, the point is to pay attention to what your body is saying it needs. You may not know why you “don’t like” peas, but your body may have a good reason. Maybe peas have a nutrient of which you already have enough. If your body tells you not to eat something, it’s okay to leave it out, even if your best friend swears it’s the best weight-loss, energy-giving food he’s ever found.
Enjoy the savor of spring cleaning and lightness that the season brings.
I
The Nibble
One way to relax and feel good
Savor a spicy meal. Hot foods trigger the release of endorphins – the natural chemicals that trigger feelings of euphoria and well-being.Spicy foods can   also help you slim down because they speed up your metabolism and make you feel satisfied more quickly.

By Dr Janet Starr Hull
Calcium is critical for bone health, right? Not necessarily. All right, I am playing around with you…yes, calcium is important, but it isn’t the ONLY nutrient nature provides to build strong, healthy and youthful bones. Nature rarely works without help; typically, one, lone isolated element does not do a big job alone – a task like keeping your skeletal system strong.
A blend of elements work together to keep your bones healthy and strong, and when you replace merely calcium, it is not enough to complete the job.

 
In my opinion, and my vitamin lab agrees, calcium and magnesium need to be in a 1:1 ratio for good bone health. And the type of calcium used is important, too. A good Rule of Thumb to remember: your body is the processing plant, the industrial unit, the factory; it should process everything you put into it. Over the years, technology and the modern manufacturing of foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged foods, and medications have created products that have “already been processed.” Your body doesn’t get the chance to refine the nutrients given to it. Instead, you eat and drink products that have already been finished – in essence, you are eating and drinking by-products; an end product. The body doesn’t capture much nutrition from end products.
Bones are living tissue. Bones can be considered organs composed of hard living tissue providing structural support to the body – it’s the body’s scaffolding. Your bones are a hard matrix of calcium salts deposited around protein fibers. Minerals make your bones rigid and proteins (the collagen) provide its strength and elasticity. So you see, your bones require many more minerals than just calcium.

 
There are two kinds of bone tissue.
1. Compact bone is the hard material that makes up the shaft of long bones and the outside surfaces of other bones. It is here that blood vessels and nerve fibers, nutrients and wastes are exchanged. Canals (called Volkmann’s canals) perforate the bone and provide channels that allow the blood vessels in the bone to connect to the blood vessels that surround the bone.
2. Spongy bone consists of thin, irregularly shaped plates called trabeculae, arranged in a latticework network. This network is only a few cell layers think, but it exchanges nutrients with nearby blood vessels.
So you see, your bones require many more minerals than just calcium.

 
When I was growing up, my mom, Mimi, was never ill. I can’t remember her ever complaining of allergies, headaches, body aches, or anything actually. She went to the doctor for her yearly check-ups, but she was a healthy individual. When she turned 70, her doctor suggested she get on medication for bone health, but her bone density tests were always fine. He suggested she take Actonel ® for “prevention”, and she did as she was told. She ate well, took her vitamins, and ate and drank calcium rich foods. But she did what she was told.

 
The Acetonel began to disrupt her health, and she started having side effects. Each bone density test showed her bones were fine, but the side effects were causing her more and more problems. Plus, the doctor told her to take a calcium and vitamin D supplement – hum. So why did she need the meds when her bones were fine, and she STILL took a bone vitamin supplement? Why not just take the proper supplements and drop the expensive meds?

 
She began developing acid reflux, dizziness, asthma symptoms and difficulty breathing. Her vision worsened, and she required more potassium and magnesium.
Then, she started getting stressed about taking the little once a week pill, and she worried that she might miss the “right day and time” to retake it. Then she worried that she’d make things worse if she ate or drank something that made her feel ill. After years of this vicious cycle of stress and her side effects worsening, I weaned her off the Actonel when she turned 78 and started her on my Perfect Calcium and Jarrow’s Bone-Up®. Well you can guess where I am going with this…..
Her side effects immediately stopped, and every two years when she got her bone density test, her bones had strengthened. Her fingernails were always long and pretty, but they grew like weeds. She was clipping her toenails twice as much, and her gums and teeth improved.

 
I first learned about the “blend” of bone nutrients when my middle son, at the age of 12, became a patient at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. He had a nasty, and very unfair, football accident in junior high football. His growth plate on his right knee was damaged, and his leg began growing in a bow. Before he was 16, he had two major bone transplants to correct the irregular growth, and they inserted a stainless steel plate next to his right thighbone, under the muscle. They secured the plate to the bone using stainless screws, folded the muscle over the plate and sewed him up. The doctors expected him to have the plate under the muscle for his lifetime.

 
Well, I doctored him with the Bone-Up, Perfect Calcium and liquid silica. In less than six months after his last surgery, he was complaining of pain at the plate. We went back to Scottish Rite, they took another round of X-rays, and they saw that his bone had re-grown so completely, it had pushed the screws out from the bone and the plate was coming off.
So, he had yet another operation to remove the plate, and two years later, his X-rays and MRI showed NO evidence that he had ever had a bone transplant. The doctors were gob smacked. I was smug.

 
I did the same thing for Mimi.
Here’s the bone nutrient line-up:
Calcium
(Ca)
Magnesium
(Mg)
Phosphorus
(P)
Silica
(Silicon — Si)
Zinc
(Zn)
Manganese
(Mn)
Copper
(Cu)
Boron
(B)
Strontium
(Sr)
Potassium
(K)
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Vitamin B
Fats
Protein

 
In other words, eat a well-rounded, healthy diet. When taking a bone supplement, find a product with ALL these nutrients. Mom’s Actonel didn’t have this blend of bone goodies. Manufactured forms of calcium, shells or bones do not have this blend of rich nutrients, either. Remember, allow your bones to process the nutrients it needs from foods rich in the nutrients listed above, take a quality multi-vitamin and trace mineral complex to make sure you have covered all the bases, and take extra silica.
And beware – if you have an old metal plate inside you from a former bone operation, you might just find it pushing off the bone!http://www.janethull.com/newsletter/0409/bad_to_bone.php

By Debra Frick

Recently I was sent this article on Fibromyalsia. It was written by the FDA touting it’s new breakthrough drugs to reduce pain in those afflicted with this pain disorder. Many women have gone through hell trying to get even a diagnose because this is considered mainly a woman’s disease and most doctor’s were hard pressed to consider this a real disease not something that was a psychiatric in nature. I have Fibromyalsia. and have had it since my teenage years and I soon will be fifty. It has taken the medical community almost 30 years to figure out what was wrong with me. I was also told there was nothing wrong with me or that it was stress due to raising five kids with little money. I also was sent to therapy for it as they thought it was all in my head. I also have Chronic fatigue Syndrome, which is a companion to Fibromyalsia. Now drug companies in conjunction with the medical community are adding one more poison to the list of things that they expect us women to poison ourselves with. Ten years ago the excepted treatment for menopause was Hormone Replacement therapy……….Now they have found a higher risk of breast cancer for those who were on a hormone therapy regiment. Lyrica a medication for seizures is not a new medication for the treatment of Fibromyalsia as the Tv commercials claim. I am sure the drug companies are trying to find a medicine to work for Fibromyalsia but nothing is panning out for them just yet.  So they do some studies and find that Lyrica and Cymbalta will sometimes work for Fibromyalsia. But the down side to these “ Miracle Drugs” is that not enough research or time has passed to be able to predict what long-term effects these drugs will ultimately produce. The side of effects of these drugs can also further complicate an already complicated situation. The weight gain that can be common can pose a greater risk of weight related illness. Sleepiness and Nausea are not side effects any one still working with the disease can afford to have happen to them. Fibromyalsia can be treated with natural herbs and total bodywork. To expect that we should be the guinea pigs for drugs that were original prescribed for other diseases is purely a way for the drug companies to make more of a profit than they do now. I have no doubt that Lyrica and Cymbalta work for some people but is it worth the risk farther done the road is what I am considering.

This is the article I read:

Living with Fibromyalgia,Drugs Approved to Manage Pain

After meeting on the Internet in 1997, Lynne Matallana and Karen Lee Richards discovered they had a lot in common. They both had seen numerous doctors before being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by fatigue and widespread pain in muscles and joints. They both had trouble finding medical information and support for coping with the illness. Seven months after meeting, they started gathering with five other people with fibromyalgia who also wanted to bring awareness to the issue.  “We called ourselves ‘the pillow posse’ because we would meet and have our pillows to support our aching bodies,” Matallana says. Those gather­ings grew into the National Fibromyal­gia Association (NFA), an organization that now provides support, research information, medical education, and messages of hope to millions.

Fibromyalgia affects 2 to 4 percent of the population, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). It mostly affects women, and tends to develop in early to middle adulthood. But men and children also can have it. “One of the challenges is that fibro­myalgia hasn’t always been recog­nized as a specific illness,” says Jeffrey Siegel, M.D., clinical team leader in FDA’s Division of Anesthesia, Analge­sia, and Rheumatology Products. “In 1990, the American College of Rheu­matology developed criteria for diag­nosing it, and this marked a major step forward in helping more people understand how to recognize the symptoms and how to treat them.”

Approved Drugs

People with fibromyalgia have typi­cally turned to pain medicines, anti­depressants, muscle relaxants, and sleep medicines. In June 2007, Lyrica (pregabalin) became the first FDA-approved drug for specifically treat­ing fibromyalgia; a year later, in June 2008, Cymbalta (duloxetine hydro­chloride) became the second. Both Lyrica and Cymbalta reduce pain and improve function in people with fibromyalgia. While those with fibromyalgia have been shown to experience pain differently from other people, the mechanism by which these drugs produce their effects is unknown. There is some data suggesting that these drugs affect the release of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit signals from one neuron to another. Treatment with Lyrica or Cymbalta reduces the level of pain experienced by some people with fibromyalgia.

Lyrica, marketed by Pfizer Inc., was previously approved to treat seizures, as well as pain from damaged nerves that can happen in people with diabetes (diabetic peripheral neuropathy) and in those who develop pain following the rash of shingles. Side effects of Lyrica including sleepiness, dizziness, blurry vision, weight gain, trouble concentrating, swelling of the hands and feet, and dry mouth. Allergic reactions, although rare, can occur.

Cymbalta, marketed by Eli Lilly and Co., was previously approved to treat depression, anxiety, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Cymbalta’s side effects include nausea, dry mouth, sleepiness, constipation, decreased appetite, and increased sweating. Like some other antidepressants, Cymbalta may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in peoplewho take the drug for depression. Some people with fibromyalgia also experience depression.

Studies of both drugs showed that a substantial number of people with fibromyalgia received good pain relief, but there were others who didn’t benefit.

Lyrica and Cymbalta are approved for use in adults 18 years and older. The drug manufacturers have agreed to study their drugs in children with fibromyalgia and in breastfeeding women.

Debilitating Effects

Matallana, who is now president of NFA, says she was a partner in an advertising firm when her life turned completely upside down because of her symptoms. “I finally had to stop working in 1995 and spent most of the next two years in bed,” she says. Her husband quit his job and became a consultant working from home so that he could care for her.

“I had a yoga instructor coming to my house three times a week to help me get out of bed. The pain and exhaustion were so bad that there were days that the only activity I was able to do was walk from my bed to the mailbox and back to bed. Each day seemed like an eternity and so I had to focus on just getting through one day at a time.”

People with fibromyalgia can experi­ence pain anywhere, but common sites of pain include the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms, and legs. In addition to pain and fatigue, other symptoms include difficulty sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, painful menstrual periods, tingling or numbness of hands or feet, and difficulty thinking and remembering. Some people with the condition may also experience irritable bowel syndrome, pelvic pain, restless leg syndrome, and depression.

What Causes Fibromyalgia?

Scientists believe that the condition may be due to injury, emotional distress, or viruses that change the way the brain perceives pain, but the exact cause is unclear. People with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and spinal arthritis may be more likely to have the illness.

According to ACR, people with fibromyalgia can have abnormal lev­els of Substance P in their spinal fluid. This chemical helps transmit and amplify pain signals to and from the brain.

Researchers are looking at the role of Substance P and other neurotrans­mitters, and studying why people with fibromyalgia have increased sensitivity to pain and whether there is a gene or genes that make a person more likely to have it.

Getting a Diagnosis

Matallana says she felt her suffer­ing was being dismissed as she went from doctor to doctor looking for answers.

“Many doctors suggested that it was just stress,” she says. “Some of them even made references that it was all in my head. I was eventually mis­diagnosed as having lupus.”

When Matallana was 39, a rheu­matologist who was just starting his practice, finally diagnosed her with fibromyalgia. “With my doctor’s help, I started to feel better,” she says. “It made all the difference that I had a health care provider who could give me insights as to what fibromyalgia research was showing, and that there were other people feeling what I was feeling.”

Family physicians, general inter­nists, and rheumatologists are the doctors who typically treat fibromy­algia. There is no diagnostic test for it. Doctors make a diagnosis by conduct­ing physical examinations, evaluat­ing symptoms, and ruling out other conditions. For example, fibromyalgia can be distinguished from arthritis because arthritis causes inflammation of tissues and joints and fibromyalgia does not. Another condition with sim­ilar symptoms, hypothyroidism, can be confirmed with a blood test.

Diagnostic criteria set forth by ACR include a history of widespread pain for at least three months and pain in at least 11 of 18 tender point sites.

More than Medicine

People with fibromyalgia may find relief of symptoms with pain reliev­ers, sleep medicines, antidepressants, muscle relaxants, and anti-seizure medications. But medication is just one part of the treatment approach.

What helped Matallana was a com­bination of medicines for pain and sleep, treatment for some of the over­lapping conditions like migraines and irritable bowel syndrome, and a combination of water therapy, mas­sage and yoga. Walking, jogging, bik­ing, gently stretching muscles, and other exercises also can be helpful.

Emotional support also is essential, Matallana says. “My husband always believed me, and when you have that kind of support it makes a difference. It’s really about facing chronic pain for the rest of your life. So dealing with the emotional impact and not just the physical side is very important.”

This article appears on FDA’s Consumer Health Information Web page (www.fda.gov/consumer), which features the latest updates on FDA-regulated products. Sign up for free e-mail subscriptions at www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html.

For More Information

FDA Approves First Drug for Treating Fibromyalgia

www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01656.html

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/fibromyalgia/fffibro.htm

American College of Rheumatology

www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/fibromya_new.asp

National Fibromyalgia Association

www.fmaware.org

Fibromyalgia Network

www.fmnetnews.com