Exercise Stimulates Pain Modulation in Fibromyalgia
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Exercise activates brain centers associated with pain modulation in patients with fibromyalgia and may prove an effective treatment. Acute exercise did result in a somewhat temporary improvement in centrally mediated pain modulation, and importantly this was without exacerbating pain symptoms
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@bratati Fibromyalgia is complex and largely unexplained, but abnormality in pain modulation is one of its hallmarks. Understanding how this modulation plays out in the central nervous system could give some insights into the cause of the condition. To examine this phenomenon, the researchers scanned the brains of 12 women with fibromyalgia by using functional MRI. The women's mean age was 39.5 years, and their mean Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire score was 52.9. The scale runs from 0 to 100 in order of increasing severity.