Research Information
I will include on this page the links to many sites that include both research information on FM & CFS as well as information you as a researcher will find valuable such as grant informational links. There is a lot of research being done on FM & CFS however there is a lot left to do.
No one knows for sure what causes FM & CFS. They have found some abnormalities with various hormone levels such as cortisone & substance P. Researchers have found people with FM & CFS have alpha delta wave abnormality & a subgroup of FM patients have some antinuclear antibodies. However all the research I have read have not found a common abnormality in all FM &/or CFS patients. Also some healthy people have some of these abnormalities & it doesn't bother them. There are some researchers who have conducted farther research in this area.
A decreasing number of doctors (& general population) do not believe there is such as thing as FM or CFS.
Research Links
University of Washington Health Sciences Libraries Healthlinks
University of Washington Office of Research You can find out all kinds of research related information.
Grants.gov "your source to FIND and APPLY for Federal government grants. There are over 1,000 grant programs offered by all Federal grant making agencies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proud to be the managing partner for Grants.gov, an initiative that is having an unparalleled impact on the grant community. Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for more than $400 billion in Federal grants."
UW Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research Current Projects of Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue Programs
Harborview Medical Center Includes research information.
Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry Twin Registry for VA,NC & SC.
Cypress Bioscience Inc.'s Milnacipran Significantly Improves Pain and Fatigue in Fibromyalgia Syndrome Patients Dec. 10, 2002 "Milnacipran, Cypress Bioscience Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CYPB) drug currently being evaluated for treatment of the Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) was shown to provide statistically significant improvement of pain and fatigue symptoms in a preliminary analysis of the Company's Phase II clinical trial.
This trial is the first to evaluate milnacipran as a potential treatment for FMS.
FMS is a chronic pain syndrome that is estimated to affect 2-4% of the general population. The symptoms of FMS can be debilitating, and are characterized by chronic and widespread pain throughout the body, often accompanied by severe fatigue and poor sleep. Treatment options are limited as there are no drugs specifically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of FMS.
A preliminary analysis of the randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, flexible dose escalation mono-therapy trial was conducted on 95 patients, or 76% of the total patients enrolled in the trial, who had completed the trial as of Oct. 31, 2002. A total of 125 patients are enrolled in the trial - the remaining 30 patients have recently completed the study. Patients were randomized to receive placebo or milnacipran (either once or twice per day) for four weeks of dose escalation, followed by eight weeks of constant dose. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of milnacipran for the treatment of pain and associated symptoms such as fatigue, depressed mood and sleep. Patients were asked to characterize their pain, fatigue, sleep and related symptoms several times each day on an electronic diary.
Milnacipran-treated patients randomized to the twice a day dosing group (BID) showed statistically significant improvements in pain compared to those who received placebo. Of the 95 patients that had completed the trial as of the date of this analysis, 87 percent of all milnacipran-treated patients reported overall improvement, compared to 33 percent in the placebo group (p less than 0.001). Further, 36 percent of milnacipran BID-treated patients reported at least a 50 percent reduction in pain intensity, compared to 9 percent of patients who received placebo, a difference that was statistically significant (p=0.030, intent to treat analysis). In addition, milnacipran-treated patients showed significant improvements in fatigue and depressed mood.
"It is extraordinary to see such a significant improvement in symptoms in this patient population," said Dr. Daniel Clauw, Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology; director, Center for Advancement of Clinical Research; and director, Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, The University of Michigan and chairman of Cypress' Rheumatology Advisory Board.
"Attempts to treat the complex pain of FMS with existing medications have met with limited success," noted Jay D. Kranzler, MD, PhD, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Cypress Bioscience Inc. "Milnacipran, a novel dual-acting reuptake inhibitor that acts on two key neurotransmitters in the human body, norepinephrine and serotonin, which are involved with the central modulation and processing of chronic pain, is distinguished from other dual reuptake inhibitors by its preference for norepinephrine reuptake inhibition over serotonin reuptake inhibition. Based on these preliminary results, milnacipran appears to have the potential to relieve several of the symptoms associated with FMS, and perhaps other related Functional Somatic Syndromes."
Eighty-four percent of all milnacipran patients escalated to the highest dose with no tolerability issues. The most common dose-related side effect reported by patients was nausea, particularly early in the study. Most adverse events were mild to moderate in intensity, and transient in duration.
A final analysis of the trial, including all enrolled patients, will be available early in 2003. It should be noted that response rates and significance levels may change when the final analysis is performed."
Cypress Bioscience Inc. Announces that Milnacipran is Effective in Animal Model of Fibromyalgia "Cypress Bioscience Inc. announced today results demonstrating that milnacipran is an effective analgesic in an animal model of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).
This research was performed in the laboratory of Dr. Heberto Suarez-Roca in the Section of Pharmacology at the University of Zulia in association with Dr. William Maixner in the Dental Research Center at the University of North Carolina.
In this model, known as the swim stress-induced hyperalgesia (SSIH) model, mice are subjected to a stressful situation -- forced swimming in 20 cm deep water for 10 minutes per day over three days. As a result, the mice develop muscle "hyperalgesia," or increased pain sensitivity, similar to what is found in FMS.
Milnacipran, Cypress' drug candidate for the treatment of FMS, and the first of a new class of dual reuptake inhibitors, the Norepinephrine Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (NSRI), was then tested in this model to determine its efficacy as an analgesic. In this model, milnacipran was shown to be effective in preventing the formation of or reversing demonstrated deep muscle pain that had been already established, when given, respectively, as a pre- or post-treatment.
This SSIH animal model used in this study shares many characteristics with the fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), the initial clinical target for milnacipran. FMS is a condition characterized by chronic widespread pain. Earlier this month the company completed its Phase II clinical trial to evaluate milnacipran as a treatment for FMS. Preliminary results announced last week demonstrated that milnacipran-treated patients randomized to the twice a day dosing group (BID) showed statistically significant improvements in pain compared to those who received placebo. Of the 95 patients that had completed the trial as of the date of the analysis, 87 percent of all milnacipran-treated patients reported overall improvement, compared to 33 percent in the placebo group (p less than 0.001). Further, 36 percent of milnacipran BID-treated patients reported at least a 50 percent reduction in pain intensity, compared to 9 percent of patients who received placebo, a difference that was statistically significant (p=0.030, intent to treat analysis). In addition, milnacipran-treated patients showed significant improvements in fatigue and depressed mood. The company expects to announce the complete results of the trial in early 2003."
LATEST NEWS about CFS/M.E. List of news release and research articals.
Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis The CFS/ME Working Group advises the Chief Medical Officer to the Department of Health about the management and practice in the field of CFS/ME and provides the best practice guidance for professionals, patients and family to improve the quality of care and treatment for people with CFS/ME.
Viracor This site gives research information on the human herpes viruses relating to FM and CFS
National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases they provide some funding on FM & CFS research as well as provide information.
National Institute of Health provides research information on FM, CFS & related syndromes as well as current research projects.
About.com Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia Research on CFS/FM and
Related Illnesses. List many research findings.
Thyroid.about.com Research is beginning to show a link between Hashimoto's and FM and CFS.
Thyroid.about.com Special Report Additional information on Hashimoto's Disease cause fm & cfs type symptoms.
Dr. Lowe's web page He is a leading researcher on FM, CFS and thyroid disease.
NIH Guide:Basic & Clinical Research on FM provides useful information on research grant opportunities.
National Center for Biotechnology Information Information on molecular processes effecting health. Also includes Medline link.
A definition-based analysis of symptoms in a large cohort of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome Comparison of the Holmes and Fukuda criteria for CFS which is used though out the world.
MEETING REPORT: Nevada Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Consensus Conference "The emphasis of this particular consensus panel was on laboratory evaluation and the management of sleep disorders, orthostatic hypotension and endocrine abnormalities."
National Institute of Dental Research good site to look up information on TMJ & other dental conditions.
Medscape.com Medical site with extensive amount of journal articals and research information on various medical conditions.
Summary of results from the Intensive Twin Study at The University of Washington I have included a brief summary of the results I have received from the newsletter sent out from this study. I will include more information as I receive it.
Doctor's Guide artical on correlation between FM, CFS, IBS, TMJ & other conditions.
Neurosion A new site focusing on neuroscience research geared towards the neuroscience researcher.
NCBI Genes & Disease technical information on genetics & diseases found to be genetically caused. Very technical site which gives genetic coding of various conditions.
Human Genome Project decoding of the human body. Site gives medical, research, educational & ethical information related to the genome project.
Visible Human Project Virtual anatomy of human body by the National Library of Medicine.
Scirus Search engine covers more than 60 million science related pages from the Web as well as
membership sources including ScienceDirect, MEDLINE on BioMedNet, Beilstein on
ChemWeb and Neuroscion.
Berkley Policy Associate All kinds of information valuable to researchers.
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