Jen's Journal
Monday, February 21, 2005
Feeling guilty? Don't feel bad — that could be detrimental to your health! A recent study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that feelings of self-blame may lead to an increase in inflammatory action in the body, which can have an adverse affect on everything from the skin's ability to heal itself to autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
In the study, healthy participants were randomly assigned to write about traumatic experiences in which they blamed themselves or neutral experiences during three 20-minute experimental laboratory sessions over 1 week. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor levels, an indicator of proinflammatory activity, beta2-microglobulin, cortisol (all obtained from oral fluids), and emotion were assessed prewriting and postwriting. The participants in the self-blame group showed an increase in shame and guilt as well as an increase in proinflammatory activity when compared with those in the neutral group. Cortisol and beta2-microglobulin levels seemed unaffected by the exercise. Those individuals in the self-blame group reporting the greatest feeling of shame also showed the greatest elevations in proinflammatory cytokine activity, while levels of guilt and general negative emotion were unrelated to cytokine changes. Conclusion: This data suggests that inducing self-related feelings can cause changes in inflammatory products, and that shame may have specific negative immunological effects.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common yet relatively newly-recognized musculoskeletal problem that recently has been the subject of many studies and reviews. Fibromyalgia is characterized by muscle tautness and muscle stiffness, accompanied by well- defined and amply described tender/trigger points, fatigue, anxiety and non-restorative sleep. There is some indication that fibromyalgia may have some ties to other autoimmune diseases.
Three major types of fibromyalgia exist. The first type, idiopathic or primary fibromyalgia, occurs for unknown reasons, but is aggravated by such factors as overuse, stress, poor sleep, weather changes, etc. No other medical problem is recognized in patients with primary fibromyalgia.
In contrast, the second type, secondary or concomitant fibromyalgia, occurs in patients with well- recognized medical problems, usually chronic in nature.
The third type of fibromyalgia, and the variety about which this paper is concerned, is called post- traumatic fibromyaliga. It occurs in the setting of an acute injury, after which signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia appear.
Studies have shown that many patients find relief in complementary and alternative modalities such as massage, acupressure, ultrasound, hot packs, "spray and stretch" treatments, and aerobic conditioning.
