New from PubMed:

Researchers at the Dongguk University College of Medicine in South Korea examined skin biopsy samples to determine if there are any abnormal electron microscopic (EM) findings in the skin of fibromyalgia patients that might explain their heightened sensitivity to pain. The study looked at samples from 13 fibromyalgia sufferers and 5 healthy control subjects. The control samples all showed a relatively even distribution of variegated-sized unmyelinated axons, sheathed by folded Schwann cell membranes. The samples from the fibromyalgia patients showed localization of the axons and a ballooning of the Schwann cells that was not present in the control biopsies. The abnormal patterns of unmyelinated nerve fibers and associated Schwann cells appear to be linked to the low pain threshold of fibromyalgia patients. A larger study would be required to confirm this theory.

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