The Clinical Neurobiology of Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain

Is chronic fatigue syndrome an early process of muscle aging?
Is fibromyalgia a central pain state?

This book covers the latest developments in pain research as presented at the Fifth World Congress on Myofascial Pain (MYOPAIN 2001). It examines the results of a wide scope of basic and applied research on soft-tissue pain, with a strong focus on therapeutic approaches. Its three main sections explore the neurobiology of central sensitization, regional pain syndromes, and chronic widespread pain. In addition, this well-referenced book presents a fascinating chapter on the complex relationship between muscle pain and aging. Handy graphs, charts, and illustrations make the information easy to assimilate.

The Clinical Neurobiology of Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain: Therapeutic Implications contains up-to-date information on:

• the brain?s reactions to states of persistent pain
• the physical aftermath of torture
• ways to define and address the emotional distress that commonly observed in chronic pain patients
• the mechanisms and manifestations of muscle hyperalgesia
• the pathophysiology of inflammatory muscle pain
• regional muscle pain syndromes
• state-of-the-art information on the pathophysiology of visceral pain and visceral-somatic pain representations
• a case study of a physical therapy approach to fibromyalgia using Myofascial trigger points
• the epidemiology of widespread pain and its development after injuries
• syndromes that share overlapping clinical features with fibromyalgia
• the connection between HPA dysfunction, ANS dysfunction, and fibromyalgia
• the plasticity of excitatory synaptic transmission in the spinal dorsal horn and its role in the pathogenesis of pain hypersensitivity
• how the central mechanisms of pain transmission relate to pharmacological systems that are responsible for generating central sensitization states
• what PET and MRI show us about the role that the cerebral cortex plays in the perception and modulation of pain