New from PubMed:

Researchers at the University of Kentucky undertook a study of the treatment of pain complaints from patients with rheumatic disorders. Both inflammatory and nonimflammatory rheumatic diseases generally present themselves with pain as one of the primary symptoms. This is especially the case in chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, which don’t respond to traditional pain medications (analgesics). As researchers gain a better understanding of chronic pain mechanisms and learn to address pain neurobiology at the brain and spinal cord levels, they have been able to develop new and more effective pain medications to treat rheumatic diseases. Alpha-2-delta ligands (pregabalin and gabapentin) have been proven effective in treating the chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia in clinical studies, as have norepinephrine/serotonin reuptake inhibitors (duloxetine and milnacipran). Physicians treating patients with chronic pain should explore new treatment options for fibromyalgia to more adequately respond to complaints of pain.

Read the full abstract on PubMed