Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0016053 (fibromyalgia)
 4,687 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Diseases and medical specialties differ as regards social prestige. Samples of experienced physicians, medical students at two different levels, and other health professions were asked to rate 38 diseases and 22 medical specialties and subspecialties by prestige. The measured differences in prestige were substantial. Among the diseases, myocardial infarction, leukemia and brain tumour were ranked highest, whereas fibrositis, hepatocirrhosis and depressive neurosis came lowest. Among the specialties, neurosurgery, cardiology and thorax surgery were top ranked, while geriatrics, dermatology and psychiatry had lowest prestige. The differences between the ratings of the doctors, medical students and representatives of other health professions were small. This result indicates that the resulting scales of prestige of diseases and specialties, besides being of interest in themselves, can be used for purposes of analysis, e.g. in analysis of the allocation of economic resources in the health services.
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PMID:[The prestige of diseases and medical specialties]. 179 50

Diseases and medical specialties differ as regards social prestige. Samples of experienced physicians, medical students at two different levels, and other health professions were asked to rate 38 diseases and 22 medical specialties and subspecialties by prestige. The measured differences in prestige were substantial. Among the diseases, myocardial infarction, leukemia and brain tumour were ranked highest, whereas fibrositis, liver cirrhosis and depressive neurosis came lowest. Among the specialties, neurosurgery, cardiology and thorax surgery were top ranked, while geriatrics, dermatology and psychiatry had lowest prestige. The differences between the ratings of the doctors, medical students and representatives of other health professions were small. This result indicates that the resulting scales of prestige of diseases and specialties, besides being of interest in themselves, can be used for purposes of analysis, e.g. in analysis of the allocation of economic resources in the health services.
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PMID:[The prestige of illnesses and medical specialties]. 192 42

The pineal hormone melatonin is the mediator of external light to physiologic adaptation to day and night rhythms, it regulates reproduction in animals but attempts to utilize melatonin in women for contraception have failed. Melatonin seems to be the natural hormone to facilitate sleep in insomniac patients and causes no hang over. When applied together with benzodiazepine it allows reduction of benzodiazepine without withdrawal effects. It should be applied 2 h before sleeping time in doses between 3 and 5 mg. Melatonin acts via the gamma-aminobutyric acid- and benzodiazepine receptor explaining its success in treatment of seizures in children and in adults. Constant application of benzodiazepine reduced the production of natural melatonin in rats, supporting the evidence that long-term application of benzodiazepine in humans does not restore sleeping habits but reduces natural sleeping habits even more. Low melatonin levels were seen in bulimia or neuralgia and in women with fibromyalgia; replacement reduced pain, sleeping disorders, and depression in fibromyalgia and bulimia. Melatonin profiles are a diagnostic tool to distinguish between several forms of depression, like major depression, winter depression (SAD), unipolar depression, delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). In patients with a major depression success with antidepressants correlated with an increase in their melatonin profiles but only patients suffering from DSPS can be successfully treated with melatonin. In perimenopausal women melatonin administration did produce a change in LH, FSH and thyroid hormones. Some oncostatic properties are supported by cell culture work and studies in animals. In Nordic countries indigenous people suffer less from breast and prostate cancer, winter darkness seems to protect. The supposedly increased melatonin levels created the 'melatonin hypothesis'. Epidemiological studies did show that blind people indeed have half the rate of breast cancers, supporting the hypothesis. Controversial results concerning melatonin and insulin resistance and glucose tolerance have been published. In postmenopausal women application of melatonin reduced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Pregnant women should avoid melatonin, since its teratogenic effect is not known. Patients suffering from non-hormone dependent tumors, like leukemia, should avoid melanin, since tumor growth was promoted in animal experiments. It can be expected that melatonin will receive wide consideration for treatment of sleeping disturbances, jet lag, and fibromyalgia once an oral formulation becomes available in Europe.
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PMID:Melatonin deficiencies in women. 1195 97

Surveys have shown that the prestige of medical specialities is ordered hierarchically. We investigate whether similar tacit agreement in the medical community also applies to diseases, since such rankings can affect priority settings in medical practice. A cross-sectional survey was performed in three samples of physicians and medical students in Norway in 2002. A questionnaire was sent to 305 senior doctors (response rate, 79%), 500 general practitioners (response rate, 65%) and 490 final-year medical students (response rate, 64%). Outcome measures were ratings on a 1-9 scale of the prestige these respondents believed most health personnel would accord to a sample set of 38 different diseases as well as 23 medical specialities. Both diseases and specialities were clearly and consistently ranked according to prestige. Myocardial infarction, leukaemia and brain tumour were among the highest ranked, and fibromyalgia and anxiety neurosis were among the lowest. Among specialities, neurosurgery and thoracic surgery were accorded the highest rank, and geriatrics and dermatovenerology the lowest. Our interpretation of the data is that diseases and specialities associated with technologically sophisticated, immediate and invasive procedures in vital organs located in the upper parts of the body are given high prestige scores, especially where the typical patient is young or middle-aged. At the other end, low prestige scores are given to diseases and specialities associated with chronic conditions located in the lower parts of the body or having no specific bodily location, with less visible treatment procedures, and with elderly patients.
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PMID:Do diseases have a prestige hierarchy? A survey among physicians and medical students. 1785 Sep 44

New information about the pathophysiology of idiopathic nonallergic rhinopathy indicates a high prevalence in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). This article shows the relevance of CFS and allied disorders to allergy practice. CFS has significant overlap with systemic hyperalgesia (fibromyalgia), autonomic dysfunction (irritable bowel syndrome and migraine headaches), sensory hypersensitivity (dyspnea; congestion; rhinorrhea; and appreciation of visceral nociception in the esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, bladder, and other organs), and central nervous system maladaptations (central sensitization) recorded by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Neurological dysfunction may account for the overlap of CFS with idiopathic nonallergic rhinopathy. Scientific advances are in fMRI, nociceptive sensor expression, and, potentially, infection with xenotropic murine leukemia-related virus provide additional insights to novel pathophysiological mechanisms of the "functional" complaints of these patients that are mistakenly interpreted as allergic syndromes. As allergists, we must accept the clinical challenges posed by these complex patients and provide proper diagnoses, assurance, and optimum care even though current treatment algorithms are lacking.
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PMID:Relationships among rhinitis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. 2061 18

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a retrovirus implicated in prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Press releases have suggested that it could contribute to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study we used two PCR assays and one antibody assay to screen 25 blood samples from autistic children born to mothers with CFS and from 20 mixed controls including family members of the children assayed, people with fibromyalgia and people with chronic Lyme disease. Using a real-time PCR assay, we screened an additional 48 South Carolina autism disorder samples, 96 Italian ASD samples, 61 South Carolina ASD samples and 184 healthy controls. Despite having the ability to detect low copy number XMRV DNA in a large background of cellular DNA, none of the PCR assays found any evidence of XMRV infection in blood cells from patients or controls. Further, no anti-XMRV antibodies were detected, ruling out possible low level or abortive infections in blood or in other reservoirs. These results imply that XMRV is not associated with autism.
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PMID:PCR and serology find no association between xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and autism. 2094 39

Human infection with the xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been associated controversially with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome. Information is lacking about the mechanisms of transmission and potential risk groups for XMRV infection. Plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from individuals with retroviral infections, chronic viral hepatitis, autoimmune diseases, prostate cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and blood donors were tested for XMRV markers. Antibodies to XMRV proteins p15E and gp70 were examined using research assays. DNA extracted from PBMCs was tested for the presence of XMRV gag and env sequences. A total of 1103 specimens belonging to individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome and/or fibromyalgia (437), prostate cancer (69), HIV-1 (149), HTLV-1/2 (31), chronic hepatitis B (81), chronic hepatitis C (72), autoimmune diseases (18), and blood donors (246) were examined. Overall, three samples (0.3%) were p15E seroreactive (two HTLV-1 and one HCV patient). Another 15 (1.4%) were gp70 seroreactive (six chronic fatigue syndrome-fibromyalgia, four blood donors, two HIV-1, one prostate cancer, one HBV, and one HCV). Four specimens were initially positive for XMRV gag sequences, but none could be confirmed by repeated testing. In summary, no evidence of XMRV infection was found in populations with retroviral and viral hepatitis infections in Spain. Likewise, XMRV was not recognized in patients with autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome-fibromyalgia, prostate cancer, or healthy blood donors.
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PMID:Prevalence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus infection in different risk populations in Spain. 2220 83

The xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been recently linked to chronic fatigue syndrome in a US cohort in whom the virus was demonstrated in 67% patients vs 3.7% healthy controls. Albeit this finding was not substantiated by subsequent reports and eventually considered a laboratory contamination, the matter is still the object of intense debate and scrutiny in various cohorts of patients. In this work we examined well-clinically characterized Italian patients affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, and also fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, two chronic illnesses of basically unknown etiology which show quite a few symptoms in common with chronic fatigue syndrome. Although we used recently updated procedures and controls, the XMRV was not found in 65 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis, 55 with fibromyalgia, 25 with rheumatoid arthritis, nor in 25 healthy controls. These results add to the ever-growing number of surveys reporting the absence of XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome patients and suggest that the virus is also absent in fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.
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PMID:Absence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus in Italian patients affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, or rheumatoid arthritis. 2269 86

In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of three survey studies of disease prestige in medical culture. The studies were conducted in 1990, 2002 and 2014 using the same research design. In each of the three rounds, a sample of Norwegian physicians was asked to rate a set of 38 diseases on a scale from 1 to 9 according to the prestige they believed health personnel in general would award them. The results show a remarkable stability in the prestige rank order over 25 years. The top three diseases in all three surveys were leukaemia, brain tumour and myocardial infarction. The four lowest ranked were fibromyalgia, depressive neurosis, anxiety neurosis and hepatocirrhosis. The most notable change concerns apoplexy (brain stroke), which moved from a rank of 33 to 29 and then to 23 over the three rounds. We argue that the stable pattern, as well as this change, substantiate the interpretation of previous research, i.e. that the prestige of a disease is affected by the localization of the affected organ or body part, the effect and style of its typical treatment, and the social attributes of the typical patient. Analysing physicians' shared evaluations of different diseases, the paper contributes to the cultural understanding of disease conceptions in medicine. Understanding these conceptions is important because disease prestige may influence decision-making in the healthcare sector.
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PMID:Stability and change in disease prestige: A comparative analysis of three surveys spanning a quarter of a century. 2831 9