Fibromyalgia An Essential Guide for Patients and Their Families

by Wallace, Daniel J.; Wallace, J. B.

• ISBN13: 9780195149319
• ISBN10: 0195149319
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Six-million Americans currently suffer from fibromyalgia. Treatment of this form of chronic neuromuscular pain -- a pain-amplification syndrome brought on by abnormal interactions between hormones, the immune system, neurotransmitters, and the autonomic nervous system -- costs $13 billion annually. Yet despite these staggering figures, fibromyalgia is often misdiagnosed and is widely misunderstood. Doctors treat the majority of patients for depression, and turn away others altogether. Based on the definitive and widely acclaimed Making Sense of Fibromyalgia and the recent All About Fibromyalgia, this guide offers expert advice to sufferers and teaches them how to get the help they require but so rarely receive. Addressing a desperate need for intelligible information on this syndrome, Fibromyalgia gives patients and their families the reassurance they have long needed. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Daniel J. Wallace, M.D. has served as Clinical Chief of Rheumatology at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and has treated hundreds of victims of fibromyalgia. J. B. Wallace is a freelance medical writer. Together, they have written two acclaimed books on fibromyalgia: Making Sense of Fibromyalgia and All About Fibromyalgia, both by OUP.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
What is Fibromyalgia?	1	(7)
Who Gets Fibromyalgia and Why?	8	(6)
The Basic Science of Fibromyalgia	14	(16)
Fibromyalgia-Related Complaints	30	(13)
What Are the Regional and Localized Forms of Fibromyalgia?	43	(5)
What Conditions Are Associated with Fibromyalgia?	48	(17)
The Fibromyalgia Consultation and Differential Diagnosis	65	(9)
I'm Not Crazy!	74	(6)
How to Help Yourself without Taking Medicine	80	(29)
Medicines for Fibromyalgia	109	(37)
Work and Disability	146	(7)
Prognosis and Future Directions	153	(6)
Appendix 1 Fibromyalgia Resource Materials	159	(4)
Appendix 2 Glossary	163	(16)
Appendix 3 Fibromyalgia: A Complementary Medicine Doctor's Perspective	179	(6)
Index	185