Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0022104 (irritable bowel syndrome)
 8,033 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Evidence that placebo acupuncture is an effective treatment for chronic pain presents a puzzle: how do placebo needles appearing to patients to penetrate the body, but instead sitting on the skin's surface in the manner of a tactile stimulus, evoke a healing response? Previous accounts of ritual touch healing in which patients often described enhanced touch sensations (including warmth, tingling or flowing sensations) suggest an embodied healing mechanism. In this qualitative study, we asked a subset of patients in a singleblind randomized trial in irritable bowel syndrome to describe their treatment experiences while undergoing placebo treament. Analysis focused on patients' unprompted descriptions of any enhanced touch sensations (e.g., warmth, tingling) and any significance patients assigned to the sensations. We found in 5/6 cases, patients associated sensations including "warmth" and "tingling" with treatment efficacy. The conclusion offers a "neurophenomenological" account of the placebo effect by considering dynamic effects of attentional filtering on early sensory cortices, possibly underlying the phenomenology of placebo acupuncture.
 ...
PMID:Placebo acupuncture as a form of ritual touch healing: a neurophenomenological model. 2139 19

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is characterised by diffuse muscle pain, poor sleep and unrelenting fatigue. Individuals with FMS may also experience headaches, anxiety, depression, poor memory, numbness and tingling in the extremities, cold hands and feet, irritable bowel syndrome and lowered immune function. FMS is a common chronic pain syndrome of unknown etiology and limited treatment options. Previous studies have reported oxidative stress in FMS patients, but the results were inconsistent. Oxidative stress and nitric oxide is involved in FMS pathophysiology, however, it is still not clear whether oxidative stress abnormalities are the cause of FMS. There are several studies indicating oxidative stress in patients with FMS. Oxidant (Malondialdehyde) and antioxidant (Superoxide dismutase) balances were found to be changed in FMS patients. Furthermore, increased free radical levels may be responsible for the development of FMS and free radical-mediated oxidative stress including inflammatory cytokines may also play important roles in its pathogenesis. Moreover, oxidative stress is supposed to be increased in patients with FMS which is related to the severity of FMS symptoms. Therefore, it is important to understand whether the oxidative stress parameters are involved in FMS and what is the relationship between these and antioxidants in FMS patients. In this review we will elucidate the importance of oxidative stress and antioxidants and its possible relationship with FMS. Moreover, as metal toxicity is also reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of FMS, therefore we will also try to establish the role of toxic metals in the pathogenesis of FMS.
...
PMID:Oxidative stress and antioxidative parameters and metal ion content in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome: implications in the pathogenesis of the disease. 2437 71