Did 'The Princess on the Pea' suffer from fibromyalgia syndrome? The
influence on sleep and the effects of acupuncture.
Acupunct Med. 2007 Dec;25(4):184-97.
Lundeberg T, Lund I.
PMID: 18160929
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterised
by central sensitisation resulting in hypersentivity of the skin and
deeper tissues as well as fatigue. Possibly the princess in Hans
Christian Andersen's 'The Princess and the Pea' suffered from FMS
since chronic sleep disturbances are typical in FMS. These sleep
disturbances have been attributed to a dysfunction in the systems
regulating sleep and wakefulness resulting in loss of deep sleep. In
addition, many patients with FMS experience cognitive dysfunction,
characterised by impaired concentration and short term memory
consolidation, a complaint also commonly reported in other sleep disorders.
In recent reviews evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture in FMS it
has been concluded that acupuncture has no specific effect. A
prerequisite for this conclusion is that all the major symptoms in
the syndrome have been assessed. However, previous studies have
generally focused on the pain alleviating effect of acupuncture in
FMS. We have observed that not only pain but also sleep and cognitive
dysfunction may be ameliorated in response to acupuncture, suggesting
that these variables should be taken into account when evaluating the
effects of acupuncture in FMS.
Furthermore, the results demonstrated great individual variability
apart from the systematic effects related to the group, indicating
that individually performed treatment strategies are required. Our
suggestion is supported by experimental and clinical studies showing
that acupuncture may affect insomnia and alertness, and that there
may be neurophysiologic bases for these specific effects.
* * *
"Princess and the Pea" is a good analogy that helps people understand WHY I go to bed and can't sleep.
When the fibro is really acting up, the smallest wrinkle in the sheet feels like I'm laying on a log.
Tramadol has been scientifically proven useful, and it's the only thing that I've found that eases the pain enough to let me sleep (as opposed to sleeping pills that have to be strong enough to dope me up well into the next day).
2 comments:
oh how you tempt, bringing fairytales into your writings here ....
Perhaps you've heard the fairy tale about the Emperor's New Clothes?
Among all the people who viewed the Emperor's magical new suit, only one had the guts to tell the truth: that the Emperor was naked.
When CDC ignored the medical evidence and declared CFS to be "all in the patient's head", only a few brave people had the guts to stand up and tell the truth that the information CDC put out was erroneous.
I'm willing to say that the CDC Emperor has no clothes, with the courage of my convictions and signing my real name. There is ample objective medical evidence backing up my claim that CFS and fibromyalgia are real diseases with biological causes.
And, just like in the fairy tale, there are people who would rather ooh and ah over what isn't there than to trust the facts put forth by someone who isn't the Emperor. They're afraid someone in power might shame them for publicly contradicting the official stance ... even if that contradiction is more accurate than what the Emperor is putting forth.
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