May 07 2009
New Fibromyalgia Study at Stanford Medical
A new study conducted by Jarred Younger, PhD and Sean Mackey, MD, PhD., who are in the Department of Anesthesia, Division of Pain Management at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, CA.; suggests that low-dose naltrexone may reduce the severity of fibromyalgia symptoms.
Naltrexone is a medication that is used to treat opiate addiction, and is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of pain. The study used a dosage much lower than that used in the treatment of addiction, and indicates that the drug may reduce pain in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and Chrohn’s Disease.
This is not considered definitive, since the study was set up as a single-blind study, and had only 10 participants, but it indicates that research should be continued. The results were promising, with low-dose naltrexone perfoming significantly better than the placebo in 60% of participants, and no serious side effects reported. (Two participants reported more vivid dreams.)
The full text of the April 2009 article is available here.
