Skip to main content

Good news: ‘fibrofog’ doesn’t portend Alzheimer’s

By: BRUCE JANCIN,
Family Practice News Digital Network 11/22/13

 SAN DIEGO – ‘Fibrofog’ – the cognitive dysfunction experienced by up to 80% of fibromyalgia patients – is not an early harbinger of Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Robert S. Katz asserted at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

 The problems with memory, concentration, language, and thinking, collectively known as fibrofog, affect fibromyalgia patients in their 20s-50s. The onset is typically more sudden and dramatic than with classic forms of dementia. As fibrofog becomes chronic, many affected fibromyalgia patients – fearing the worst – worry they are on a road to Alzheimer’s disease in middle age.

Not so, according to Dr. Katz, professor of medicine at Rush Medical College, Chicago.

 He presented a cross-sectional study involving two cohorts. One comprised 69 fibromyalgia patients with symptoms of cognitive dysfunction of 12 months duration or less. The other consisted of 39 fibromyalgia patients with fibrofog symptoms of 7-26 years duration. The long-duration group averaged 52.3 years of age, nearly 7 years older than the group with more recent onset of fibrofog. But the two groups were closely similar in terms of educational level, depression scores, and vocabulary scale scores.

 The key study finding: No significant differences existed between the two groups on 13 of the 14 measures of neurocognitive function assessed in the study, including logical memory, paired associate, digit symbol, letter fluency, processing speed, and the Stroop word speed and color speed tests.

 Indeed, the sole metric where the long-duration fibrofog patients fared significantly worse was the Trails A test, a measure of spatial scanning and cognitive sequencing. However, the two groups had closely similar scores on the Trails B.

 Compared with standardized normative means that have been established for each of the 14 neurocognitive tests, the level of cognitive impairment in the fibromyalgia patients was markedly less than that seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically, measures of processing speed and episodic memory, which are significantly diminished in individuals with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, were within normal range in both study groups. That’s reassuring. So is the fact that the cognitive deficits present in the shorter-duration group weren’t markedly more pronounced in the group troubled by cognitive problems for an additional 6-25 years. Thus, fibrofog does not appear to be a condition characterized by progressive cognitive decline, the rheumatologist observed.

 Dr. Katz reported having no financial conflicts of interest with regard to this study.


 bjancin@frontlinemedcom.com
 Copyright © 2013 International Medical News Group, LLC. All rights reserved. This page was copied from www.familypracticenews.com .

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately?  Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members.  Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain.  This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story.  Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube
Post a Comment
Read more

Sciatica: A common pain in the butt!

Sciatica pain results from pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve.  This nerve originates in the spine and runs down through the buttocks and the back of the leg...so if you've ever literally had a pain in the butt, it is possible that sciatica is the problem.  The cause of the pressure can be from a number of sources...for instance,  compression in the spinal cord due to disc injury or a tumor. The sciatica pain sensation can vary widely..it can present as a numbness or tingling, dull ache, burning, and in severe cases the pain can make movement quite difficult. Over time, it is possible for sciatica to resolve on its own.  If it does not, it is important to seek medical help to determine the root cause of the pain. The usual first course of remedies for sciatica include ice application to the affected area for the first 48-72 hours, followed by heat.  Over the counter pain medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen are also appropriate.  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Non Drug Pain Management Ideas: Applying the 80/20 Principle

The idea for today's post comes from my husband, who has in recent years become a follower of the paleo/primal diet.  Most of the time he is very strict about this diet, making sure not to eat anything taboo.  On occasion, he breaks from the rigidity of his new found way of life and enjoys a few cookies, maybe a bottle of beer, or a new pasta dish. Why, you ask?  He says that according to others who follow this course, there is an 80/20 rule.  This means that that if you adhere to the rules 80% of the time, you can allow yourself some leeway the other 20% of the time.  It is important to bring this concept to the readers of this blog for a number of reasons: 1)If you have been following this blog at all, you know there are a lot of lifestyle changes that can tremendously enhance relief from chronic pain.  For a lot of people this not an easy thing to do.  By opting to follow the 80/20 rule these lifestyle modifications suddenl...
Post a Comment
Read more