|
Altering
the Diet May Ease Fibromyalgia
Excerpt
By
Keith Mulvihill, Reuters Health
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
- The results of a small, preliminary study suggest that people
with fibromyalgia may experience reductions in their symptoms
if they eliminate one or more foods from their diet.
Lead investigator Dr. Joel S. Edman of the Center for Integrative
Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, presented the findings at the annual meeting of
the American College of Nutrition in Orlando, Florida, earlier
this month.
``People don't need to completely change their life, but food
may be a contributing factor to their condition,'' Edman told
Reuters Health.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition, often accompanied by depression
and fatigue, in which a person feels pain in the muscles and tissues
surrounding the joints. Nine in 10 fibromyalgia patients are female.
While the cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, researchers have found
pain-processing abnormalities in the spines and brain stems of
some people with fibromyalgia.
In the study, Edman and colleagues reviewed medical charts of
17 fibromyalgia patients who agreed to eliminate common foods
from their diet such as corn, wheat, dairy, citrus, soy and nuts.
After 2 weeks without eating any of the potential food allergens,
nearly half of the patients reported ``significant reduction of
pain,'' and 76% reported a reduction in other symptoms such as
headache, fatigue, bloating, heartburn, and breathing difficulties,
according to Edman. Two patients had an increase in symptoms.
After the food elimination phase of the study, the patients were
then instructed to reintroduce a particular food every 2 or 3
days and monitor their reaction to the food.
Some of the reactions to foods were pain, headache, and gastrointestinal
distress, Edman noted. The most common problem-causing foods or
ingredients for the patients in this study were corn, wheat, dairy,
citrus and sugar.
``It's a preliminary study...but (the findings) do support the
idea that food may play a role in fibromyalgia and more research
in this area should be conducted,'' he said.
Such a test offers ``no real harm to the patients other than
the time and effort it takes to try it,'' Edman emphasized.
``There is no real downside and it has a potential upside,''
he added.
Reference
Source 89
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
|
