Objective(s): Fibromyalgia (FM) is a central nervous system disorder characterized by widespread mechanical hyperalgesia due to unknown mechanisms. Several inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor, are increased in the serum of FM patients. Although medications including pregabalin, duloxetine, and milnacipran are used...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the effect of strenuous exercise on β-endorphine (β-END) level in fibromyalgia (FM) patients compared to healthy subjects. METHODS We enrolled 30 FM patients and 15 healthy individuals. All study participants underwent a treadmill exercise test using modified Bruce protocol (M.Bruce). The goal of the test was achieving at least 70% of the predicted m...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been reported to be an attractive therapeutic cell source for the treatment of renal diseases. Recently, we reported that transplantation of allogenic fetal membrane-derived MSC (FM-MSC), which are available noninvasively in large amounts, had a therapeutic effect on a hindlimb ischemia model (Ishikane S, Ohnishi S, Yamahara K, Sada M, Harada K, Mishima K, Iwas...

Objective. We examined personality traits in young women with FM, in order to seek associations with key psychological processes and clinical symptoms. Methods. Twenty-seven women with FM and 29 age-matched female healthy controls [HC] completed a series of questionnaires examining FM symptoms, personality and psychological variables. Results. Significant differences between characteristic FM s...

This study examined whether electrophysiological and psycho-acoustic auditory measures would refl ect changes following use for one year of a personal ear-level frequency-modulated (FM) device in a group of children with symptoms of central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). Subjects consisted of 10 children aged 7 to 14 years with normal hearing thresholds, suspected CAPD, and additional att...

PURPOSE Speech recognition performance in noise was examined in children with cochlear implants (CIs) when using (a) a second CI (bilateral group), (b) a hearing aid (HA) on the nonimplant ear (bimodal group), and (c) a frequency modulation (FM) system on 1 or both sides. METHOD While always maintaining use of the first CI, 2 groups participated in 6 conditions each using various listening ar...

Insulin resistance (IR) is typically more severe in obese individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) than in similarly obese non-diabetics but whether there are group differences in body composition and whether such differences contribute to the more severe IR of T2DM is uncertain. DEXA and regional CT imaging were conducted to assess adipose tissue (AT) distribution and fat content in liver and m...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of contact allergy to fragrance mix (FM) I varies from study to study, depending on factors such as test population, patch test material, and technique. OBJECTIVES To compare the outcome of routine patch testing with FM I TRUE Test and FM I Trolab. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 5006 consecutive eczema patients were patch tested with both patch test materials acc...

Previous reports have suggested that physical and psychological stresses may trigger fibromyalgia (FM). Stress is an important risk factor in the development of depression and memory impairments. Antidepressants have been used to prevent stress-induced abnormal pain sensation. Among various antidepressants, tianeptine has been reported to be able to prevent neurodegeneration due to chronic stre...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether fibromyalgia (FM) is more common in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) who complain of fatigue. The association and prevalence of fatigue and FM was recorded in a group of patients with pSS and a control group of lupus patients, a subset of whom had secondary Sjögren's syndrome (sSS). METHODS 74 patients with pSS and 216 patients with lupus were asse...