Health Pedia

he Oscar winner sat down to discuss his new film 5 Flights Up, why he left the Big Apple, and how marijuana is the only thing that can help ease his pain. ou’ve all heard the voice—at once authoritative and passive, weaving every soothing syllable into an epic yarn. It’s guided you through forbidding prisons, alien invasions, and the icy plains of Antarctica. That the voice is attached to an equally arresting, freewheeling persona has the cumulative effect of, to quote his  Shawshank Redemption  character, making him seem “like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world.” It’s a testament to his acting ability, as these days Morgan Freeman, the Oscar-winning film legend, is in a great deal of pain. Seven years ago, he was driving across Mississippi when his vehicle, a 1997 Nissan Maxima, skidded off the highway, flipping over several times. Freeman was rescued using the Jaws of Life and medevaced to a nearby hospital in Memphis. His left shoulder, arm, and elb...

A new method based on thumbnail pressure has been developed to monitor conditioned pain modulation (CPM). Patients, such as those with fibromyalgia (FM) who require long-term and frequent assessment of pain responses, should welcome the new, simpler test.   CPM is a model where a conditioning stimulus is used to influence a test stimulus in the context of pain responses. In healthy people,  the application of a painful stimulus to one part of the body often reduces pain experienced in another part of the body. For patients with FM, or those with other chronic pain disorders, this process is often impaired. Inefficient CPM also is associated with increased use of pain management strategies, such as analgesic use. In the study “ A novel paradigm to evaluate conditioned pain modulation in fibromyalgia ,” published in the  Journal of Pain Research ,  researchers developed a new method to evaluate CPM that “can be performed lo...

If you didn’t know me well, you might assume that I’m faking being sick. I may just look tired, but you wouldn’t know that I’m in constant pain every day. Some days are worse than others, but even then, I act like I’m fine. Tags: Fibromyalgia,Chronic Pains It’s much easier to fake being well, because then I don’t have to defend myself. I don’t have to justify my unrelenting fatigue. I don’t have to explain why I’m not exercising. My desire is to actually BE well, but that’s not my current reality. I’m not sure why I feel that I have to pretend to be well when I am anything but. Why is it that we allow others’ opinions of us to matter so much? I’m not sure. We always seem to be developing our acting skills for a role we never asked to play. It’s just crazy. I try not to get caught up in the fact that so many people I see, especially on social media, appear to have it all together. It does seem so unfair at times. But then I remember that they have their own challenges. Per...

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition. It remains one of the hardest illness to be diagnosed as it surfaces as different types of pain and symptoms in different individuals. Its symptoms aside, experts explain the three types of fibromyalgia pain: Hyperalgesia, Allodynia and Painful Paresthesia. Hyperalgesia This medical term refers to an excess of pain associated with fibromyalgia. Hyperalgesia is the most common type of fibromyalgia pain where the pain response reaches the brain and increases in volume, thereby making the pain signals more severe than normal. Treatment: Most drugs given for managing fibromyalgia pain is aimed at reducing hyperalgesia. This condition is associated with nerve damage or irritation and requires medication such as Gabapentin, SSRI or tricyclic antidepressants, NSAIDS, glucocorticoids, pregabalin, NMDA antagonists or atypical opioids like Tramadol. Precaution: After using a particular opioid for three to six months, another may ...

  Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder  have discovered a brain signature that identifies fibromyalgia (FM) patients with 93 percent accuracy. The discovery opens possibilities for improved fibromyalgia diagnosis and treatments in the future. The report,  “ Towards a neurophysiological signature for fibromyalgia ,” was published in the journal  Pain .  Fibromyalgia (FM) is a condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues. Patients with FM show enhanced reaction to painful and non-painful sensations that are accompanied by altered neural responses. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers performed brain scans on 37 FM patients and 35 healthy controls. All subjects were exposed to painful pressure and non-painful visual, auditory, and tactile cues during the scans. Computerized machine-learning techniq...

For those who do not have a chronic illness like fibromyalgia, I am going to share eight extraordinary things about people with fibromyalgia that you need to know. May this list encourage you to understand their plight and their incredible passion to live despite their struggling. May it open a new perspective for you to consider. May it help you understand what they endure. May it inspire you to appreciate the people in your life who have fibromyalgia — and tell them how much you admire them. 1. People with fibromyalgia have a profound strength to manage life while in pain. They have a relentless will to live, so they must dive deep into their reservoir of strength to mine more of it every single day they are faced with the challenges of their pain. They don’t give up, despite the debilitating symptoms they experience. They push through and grab hold of what they can to find fulfillment in every day. This type of endurance and perseverance proves to be an ongoing batt...

When you’re fighting an invisible illness like fibromyalgia, the battles aren’t always obvious to outsiders. When you turn down an invitation or opt to take the elevator instead of the stairs, it’s all too easy for people to assume the reasons why — without realizing that in fact, you’re just doing your best to manage your symptoms. We partnered with the National Fibromyalgia Association to ask our Facebook communities what everyday things they do that people might not realize are rooted in their fibromyalgia. Their answers reveal the secret struggles fibro warriors deal with every day — and that if friends and family are paying attention, they’ll see how hard their loved ones fight to deal with the painful effects of fibromyalgia. Here’s what they told us: 1. “Not showering every day or keeping up with laundry. People see me as lazy but in reality, I’m prioritizing what I can do each day. Otherwise I’d be out for a month. It’s hard for people to understand h...

My name is Deb Lundquist and I am the administrator of the Facebook page Your Fibromyalgia. But if that isn't enough to prove that I am an authority to speak on this or any Chronic pain,  let me tell you a little bit about myself. I don't want you to dismiss me as just another whiner. My Master's degree is Extension Education which is education outside a formal classroom. That is one thing this page is all about. I also spoke in front of congress about RSD/CRPS and had everyone crying. It was a medical panel and everyone else was a doctor who all shook their heads yes with everything I said. Ed McMann, from the Johnny Carson show and with Jerry Lewis for MS was also on the panel. I have written a book on RSD and am editing it for publication. I have written an ebook on RSD/Fibromyalgia. My Pain Doctor says if I can't teach about this stuff no one can because of my research and my experience. I have RSD/CRPS, Fibromyalgia, degenerative disk disease, spondylo...

While overdoses grab the headlines, there are thousands of other unintentional victims of the opioid crisis currently gripping B.C. A growing number of chronic pain sufferers say they’ve been denied opiates following new guidelines introduced by the province’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in June. For a Metro Vancouver woman, whose identity Global News has agreed to conceal, the past five months have been unbearable. “Lucy” says chronic pain has plagued her for decades. “Within ten minutes of waking up, I have an ice pack on my head,” she said, describing the simple but insufficient remedy she now resorts to. She is among the one in five British Columbians who struggle with chronic pain. “I have had chronic intractable migraines for 29 years,” Lucy said. “When I wake up in the morning, it’s pretty much a nine out of ten.” Over the counter pain killers are her only option these days. However, for years, it was morphine. “I was dependent on it. It made my life cope-ab...

Checking the list Fibromyalgia can feel different for everyone, which is part of the reason it’s so difficult to diagnose. There is no blood test for the condition, and doctors cross off other conditions and check for fibromyalgia symptoms and tender points to reach a diagnosis. While the most common symptom is body pain, there are other symptoms that sometimes fly under the radar. Recognizing these symptoms, and getting treatment, may help. Anxiety or depression Being in constant pain can lead to anxiety and depression. However, many people with fibromyalgia continue to thrive, despite the pain. The key to coping is accepting the problem and learning how to minimize the pain—even if it can’t be cured completely, experts say. “Fibromyalgia seems to be a problem with the brain in the way that it transmits pain,” says Daniel J. Clauw, MD, the director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan. “The neurotransmitters that are involved in pain transmissi...

Fibromyalgia and Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PR) are two conditions that can be confused as they have similar and sometimes overlapping symptoms. PR is sometimes misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, or is sometimes overlooked in people who have already been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, as it is so similar. Fibromyalgia is a disorder that results in chronic pain, as well as fatigue, memory and sleep problems.  Symptoms include pain in the back of the head, at the shoulders, on the neck, upper hips, outer elbows, inner knees, and other areas. Women are more likely to develop this condition than men. Other conditions that occur with fibromyalgia include chronic pain and tender points, as well as headaches, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, and other health issues. People with fibromyalgia often have trouble sleeping and experience anxiety, fatigue, depression, headaches and other similar issues. Genetics may be responsible, as fibromyalgia tends to run in fa...

Mirapex is the Parkinson’s Drug for fibromyalgia pain relief that is most commonly prescribed. It is approved by the FDA only for the use with relieving the symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, which may mean that you have to appeal a rejection of coverage for the medication before your insurance will cover the prescription. The association between Parkinson’s and fibromyalgia is only just beginning to be understood, but as more becomes known, there is a greater understanding of both. What is Parkinson’s? Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that is considered to be fatal. It is characterized by tremors and rigidity, but also includes late stage dementia and prevalent depression. The presence of Lewy Bodies and associated proteins in the brain is also an indicator of the development of the disorder. It is considered to be a movement disorder, with degenerative movement experienced first before cognitive and behavio...

Pain is our bodies way of letting us know that we are either hurting or healing. It’s a part of life that everyone has to experience at some point in time. We’ve all had cuts, bumps, and bruises from banging into stuff or falling down, not to mention the occasional aches and stiffness that come from overdoing things. However, there are some types of bodily pain that are not caused by direct physical trauma, rather they stem from our emotional states.  They can persist and affect the quality of our life, and just like any other pain, they should not be ignored. Below are the seven main types of bodily pain that are directly linked to our human emotions: 1. Upper Back Pain.    Back pain is one of the most common types of pain reported by people across the world. In some cases pain in the upper back area stems from loneliness, confusion, and feelings of being undesired or not loved. In a sense, you may need a stronger emotional backbone. You can find the support...

Evil everywhere and all the time … A permanent fatigue, intense suffering. so you have to move, slowly at first, to be less sensitive to pain and regain his movements within tolerable conditions. Poor sleep, significant fatigue, anxiety-depressive temperament, a disorder of the perception of pain. An abnormality of the sensitivity control by the nervous system. Sleep disorders can also take different forms apnea, insomnia, excessive dreaming, restless legs, teeth grinding. Sleep is not restorative. These three symptoms may be associated with: headaches, digestive disorders (irritable bowel syndrome), urinary disorders, gynecological disorders, hypersensitivity to noise, odors, light, temperature (syndrome irritability at all), memory loss, itching, dry eyes, mouth, skin, as well as anxiety and depression. Neurological disease: Researchers from Massachusetts (USA) have discovered a new element to better understand the disease. Their study was conducted on 27 patients and 30 healthy peop...