From the Popular Press: What Your Patients are Reading

Fibromyalgia is a condition characterized by chronic widespread pain, affecting between 2% and 4% of US adults, primarily middle-aged women. Pfizer is currently airing a national television advertising campaign for Lyrica, the first drug to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Lyrica binds to receptors in the brain and spinal cord and affects the perception of pain in fibromyalgia sufferers. However, the medication comes with warnings of serious side effects including severe weight gain, dizziness, and edema. While proponents of the sydrome hail the drug as both a major step forward in dealing with chronic pain and in legitimizing fibromyalgia as a disease, the commercials for Lyrica have reopened a debate over whether the condition is real. Critics of fibromyalgia stigmatize sufferers as chronic complainers, whereas specialists in its treatment point to evidence from brain scans that people diagnosed with fibromyalgia process pain differently. Fibromyalgia is recognized as a diagnosable syndrome by the American College of Rheumatology, the Food and Drug Administration, and various insurance companies.

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