EUROPEAN NETWORK OF FIBROMYALGIA ASSOCIATIONS

From the desk of Jeanne Hambleton

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopt written declaration 69/2008 on fibromyalgia initiated by five deputies and the European Network of Fibromyalgia Associations (ENFA).

Brussels (16.12.2008) – Written Declaration 69/2008 on fibromyalgia has been a success in the European Parliament by finding the necessary quorum of signatories of 393 deputies giving their support. The Written Declaration was initiated by five key MEPs active on health at the European Parliament: Mr. Adamou, Ms. Brepoels, Ms. Dičkuté, Mr. Popa and Ms. Sinnott. These MEPs decided to launch the declaration during the celebratory meeting of the 1st European Fibromyalgia Awareness Day in May 2008, organized by ENFA

The Written Declaration is calling on the European Union to recognize fibromyalgia in Europe as a disease, as WHO did in 1992. It is estimated that 14 million people in Europe suffer from fibromyalgia and the condition is more prevalent with women (87% of total prevalence).

Fibromyalgia is a complex disease with a variety of symptoms in addition to the defining symptom – chronic widespread pain. These include fatigue, non-restorative sleep, morning stiffness, irritable bowel and bladder, restless legs, depression, anxiety and cognitive dysfunction often referred to as “fibro fog.” All of these symptoms cause serious limitations in patients’ ability to perform ordinary daily chores and work and severely affect their quality of life. Some scientists believe that there is an abnormality in how the body responds to pain, and particularly a heightened sensitivity to stimuli.

Fibromyalgia imposes large economic burdens on society as well as on affected individuals. A study shows that an average patient in Europe consults up to 7 physicians and takes multiple medications over 5-7 years before receiving the correct diagnosis. The debilitating symptoms often result in lost work days, lost income and disability payments. Research in the UK has shown that diagnosis and positive management of Fibromyalgia reduce healthcare cost by avoiding unnecessary investigations and consultations

Thus, the European Parliament is calling through this declaration, for the European Commission and the Council, to help raise awareness of the condition and facilitate access to information for health professionals and patients, by supporting European and national awareness campaigns; to encourage Member States to improve access to diagnosis and treatment; to facilitate research on fibromyalgia through the work programmes of the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research and future research programmes; and finally to facilitate the development of programmes for collecting data on fibromyalgia.

Educating healthcare professionals, patients and the public to promote better understanding and management of Fibromyalgia will benefit patients, healthcare providers and the society.
A Written Declaration is a text of up to 200 words on a matter falling within the European Union’s sphere of activities. MEPs can use them in order to launch or relaunch a debate on a subject that comes within the EU’s remit. At the end of the lapsing date (3 months after its launch on 1 September for the declaration 69/2008) the declaration is forwarded to the institutions named in the text, together with the names of the signatories.

Contact:
European Network of Fibromyalgia Associations (ENFA)
Mr. Robert Boelhouwer
President of ENFA
contact@enfa-europe.eu
www.enfa-europe.eu

About ENFA
ENFA is a network of patient association and support groups working in close consultation with the national association in the relevant country. Our joint missions are to conquer the myths and misunderstandings around Fibromyalgia. The network will help collectively push forward the boundaries which currently exist in understanding, experiencing and treatment of Fibromyalgia. Our main goal is to see fibromyalgia receiving the recognition it deserves across Europe as an illness in its own right.

Agent orange chemical, dioxin, attacks the mitochondria to cause cancer, says Penn research team

Contact: Jordan Reese
jreese@upenn.edu
215-573-6604
University of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA— Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have demonstrated the process by which the cancer-causing chemical dioxin attacks the cellular machinery, disrupts normal cellular function and ultimately promotes tumor progression.

The team identified for the first time that mitochondria, the cellular sub-units that convert oxygen and nutrients into cellular fuel, are the target of tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, or TCDD. The study showed that TCDD induces mitochondria-to-nucleus stress signaling, which in turn induces the expression of cell nucleus genes associated with tumor promotion and metastasis.

The mechanism the research team has described is directly relevant to understanding incidences of breast and other cancers in human populations exposed to these chemicals. With a better understanding of this underlying cellular mechanism, researchers hope to improve their understanding of tumor growth and promotion.

“Now that we have identified this signaling mechanism we can look at ways to disrupt this complex chain of events,” said Narayah Avadhani, chair of the Department of Animal Biology at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine and the study’s lead investigator. “Our ultimate goal is to block the propagation of this mitochondrial stress signaling and inhibit the expression of the proteins that combine to assist cancer growth.”

A well-characterized mechanism of TCDD action occurs through activation of arylhydrocarbon receptors, AhR, by directly binding to the protein subunits. Activated AhR mediates the transcriptional activation of many genes including those involved in fatty acid metabolism, cell cycle regulation and immune response. The present study, however, shows that TCDD starts the chain of events that promote tumor progression in vivo by directly targeting mitochondrial transcription and induction of mitochondrial stress signaling. A unique feature of this TCDD-induced signaling is that it does not involve the action of AhR but occurs through increased calcium levels in cells and activation of calcium responsive factors. A net result of signaling cascade is slowing down of cellular apoptosis, increased cell proliferation and tumor cell metastasis. Taken together, this study describes a novel mechanism of TCDD-induced tumor progression and emergence of metastatic cancer cells.

TCDD is the most toxic compound in the dioxin family. Formed as a by-product during waste incineration, paper, chemical and pesticide manufacturing, it was the toxic ingredient in Agent Orange and closed the Love Canal in Niagara Falls. The public health impact of dioxin, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, compares to that of the pesticide DDT.

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The study appears online and in the Dec. 17 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was performed by Avadhani, Gopa Biswas, Satish Srinivasan and Hindupur Anandatheerthavarada of the Penn School of Veterinary Medicine.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.

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Cholesterol-lowering drugs and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke

Contact: Angela Babb
ababb@aan.com
651-695-2789
American Academy of Neurology

ST. PAUL, Minn. – People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs such as atorvastatin after a stroke may be at an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke, or bleeding in the brain, a risk not found in patients taking statins who have never had a stroke. But researchers caution the risk must be balanced against the much larger overall benefit of the statin in reducing the total risk of a second stroke and other cardiovascular events when making treatment decisions. The research is published in the December 12, 2007, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, researchers conducted a secondary analysis of the results of the Stroke Prevention with Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) clinical trial. The trial enrolled 4,731 people who were within one to six months of having had a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or mini-stroke, and with no history of heart disease. Half of the participants received atorvastatin and half received a placebo. The participants were then followed for an average of four and a half years.

Overall, treatment was associated with a 16-percent reduction in total stroke, the study’s primary endpoint, as well as significant reductions in coronary heart events. However, secondary analysis found that the overall reduction in stroke included an increase in the risk of brain hemorrhage. Of those people randomized to atorvastatin, the study found 2.3 percent experienced a hemorrhagic stroke during the study compared to 1.4 percent of those taking placebo. The study also found there was a 21-percent reduction in ischemic stroke, a more common type of stroke involving a block in the blood supply to the brain, among people taking atorvastatin.

Other factors were also found to increase the risk of brain hemorrhage. For example, those who had experienced a hemorrhagic stroke prior to the study were more than five times as likely to suffer a second stroke of this kind. Men were also nearly twice as likely as women to suffer a hemorrhagic stroke. People with severe high blood pressure at their last doctor’s visit prior to the hemorrhagic stroke had over six times the risk of those with normal blood pressure.

“Although treatment of patients with a stroke or transient ischemic attack was clearly associated with an overall reduction in a second stroke, hemorrhagic stroke was more frequent in people treated with atorvastatin, in those with a prior hemorrhagic stroke, in men and in those with uncontrolled hypertension,” according to study author Larry B. Goldstein, MD, with Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “This risk of hemorrhagic stroke also increased with age.”

“Treatment with atorvastatin did not disproportionately increase the frequency of brain hemorrhage associated with these other factors. The risk of hemorrhage in patients who have had a transient ischemic attack or stroke must be balanced against the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs in reducing the overall risk of a second stroke, as well as other cardiovascular events,” said Goldstein.

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The SPARCL trial was funded by Pfizer, the maker of atorvastatin.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson disease, and multiple sclerosis.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.

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FOOD FOR SKINNY KIDS – A STORY WHICH NEEDS TO CIRCULATE FOREVER

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2007
NFA Leader Against Pain – Advocate

Maybe I should mention that you just might need some kleenex tissues before you start this story but please read it anyway, if only in the spirit of Goodwill to All Children. The men are big enough to look after themselves.

As folks in the UK were getting ready this morning to do some Christmas shopping an email arrived on my desktop with a warning, which said,  “This email needs to circulate forever.”

How could I pass up this invitation to inquire within? The email also stated, “This is a real eye opener. A real tear jerker No prerequisites (commitments).  Simply, because everyone should be reminded.“

This was sent to me by a lady from Montevideo, Uruguay called Marta. Where the pictures, shown in the email, were taken, it does not say, but I am sure it conveys a worldwide message, especially within the African continent.

Picture 1. shows European students sat at computers working, with the caption, “Does studying annoy you?”
Picture 2. reveals children, possibly from Africa, without shoes, sat on a bench and drawing their lessons in the dirt with their fingers. The caption says, “ Not them!”

By fmsglobalnews

Picture 3. is a happy family picture of a father with his daughter enjoying a beef burger roll with the words, “Hate veggies?”
Picture 4. is a picture of a long line of native mothers and starved children, clothed, in rags and waiting in line with a bowl for some food handouts. This caption says, “They starve from hunger!”

By fmsglobalnews

Picture 5. reveals the back view of a jolly obese child having fun, with a caption which reads, “On a diet?”
Picture 6. gives a close-up of a painfully thin starved child with a tape measure around the child’s matchstick thin arm. The caption referring to diet says, “They die from it!” Or the lack of any kind of diet.

Picture 7. shows a baby being cuddled by a parent revealing the lovely cuddly cheeks of a child’s bottom. This reads, “Does your parent’s care tire you?”
Picture 8. shows a sibling cuddling a child with the last bone in the baby’s spine clearly visible as she rests in sister’s arms for comfort. This caption tells us these children have no parents to grow tired of. “They don’t have any!”

By fmsglobalnews

Picture 9. reveals youngsters sat at a games console and states, “Bored with the same game?”
Picture 10. Shows a young unclothed child playing in the dirt with a bit of stick, next to the human skull of someone who had probably died from starvation. The caption reads, “They have no option!”

Picture 11. shows a smart new trainer with a caption which reads, “Someone got you Adidas instead of Nike?”
Picture 12. pictures the feet of a child with half of a plastic bottle cut to make the sole of a pair of sandals. The picture clearly reveals the screw top of the plastic bottle on the footwear, which is tied onto the foot with rag. This caption states, “They only have one brand?” Maybe it is cola?????

By fmsglobalnews

Picture 13. is of a sweet little girl in clean pyjamas snuggled up in her cosy bed. This caption reads, “Aren’t you thankful for a bed to sleep in?”
Picture 14. The final contrast picture shows a child laying in the dirt, half covered with a piece of old rag, trying to sleep, with a caption that reads, “They’d wish not to wake up!”

By fmsglobalnews

The closing slide asks, “Are you still complaining? Observe around you and be thankful for all that you have in this transitory lifetime…. We are fortunate to have much more than what we need to be content. Let us try not to feed this endless cycle of consumerism and immortality in which this ‘modern and advanced’ society forgets and ignores the other two thirds of our brothers and sisters. Send this information without any obligation or expectation in receiving good luck. Don’t keep it! Send it and it won’t be in vain. Let us complain less and give more!”

I imagine you feel as I do. I work hard for my dollar and I do not believe in sharing my hard earned cash with large charities who have magnificent offices, managing directors, hundreds of paid staff and devote just a fraction of their donations to their ‘good’ works. You can call me the woman with the long pockets if you like, but I want to know my money is going where it will doing some good and helping those would really need it. How to be confident about that I am not sure? In true Scorpion fashion I hate to be misled or deceived.

Quite how we can help these starving children is the burning question. I have had masses of appeals for all sorts of charities drop on my doormat in recent weeks. At least these ends up in the local hospice waste paper recycling skip and help them a little along with our papers and magazines. I looked on the Internet at our UK BBC Children in Need but could not see children in a similar situation.

SAVE THE CHILDREN
The UK Save the Children organisation has produced a Christmas shopping catalogue, on line, so should you decide to buy Christmas gifts from them you are indirectly donating while shopping, just how much remains to be seen! Perhaps this might be more acceptable – buying and giving at the same time. It is easy to look at this site to see the work they are doing and possibly shop with them. Every Christmas I seem to receive more and more cards printed by charities and sent by to me by friends.

http://www.savethechildrenshop.co.uk/home

However I should mention that if you telephone their UK number – 0844 557 5425 – instead of ordering on line, it could cost you 40p a minute as you give your details and make your mind up. Some of that money will be going to the charity.

Our doctors’ surgery is using this 0844 prefix number and getting a rake off which is a bit vexing considering how much our GPs are reported to be earning – but that is another story.

No – I am not a sales rep for any charity – just a concerned parent. No, this is not a commercial for children’s charities – it is a wake up call.

The American Save the Children website also appears to have a programme for under privileged children in developing countries, who are suffering from hunger and poverty. It seems you can also purchase festive gifts from them indirectly helping the cause.

http://www.savethechildren.org/

What you decide to do is between you and your conscience. I would however like to leave you with these thoughts.

These pictures and words certainly do bring you down to earth especially when you consider the wastage by governments the world over.  I am just sorry I could not reproduce the pictures but I am sure you know the kind of scenes I mean – you must have seen them on TV from time to time. Send me your email address with the request for these pictures if you would like them forwarding.

Just consider the money all of the worldwide governments squander… it is time someone added the total figure and gave us some home truths.

These starving children, if they live, may be our next generation – our future leaders. Do you think if they survive they could be future terrorists? I am sure they will have a grudge against the world – surely they will feel the world owes them a living. This is all very sad and really makes you think. Whatever happened to the innocence of childhood?  

Just imagine what we spend on consumerism not to mention what we will spend on our own children this Christmas 2007. I wonder what our children would think if we put these pictures under the Christmas tree on Dec.25 instead of a new bike, a new game toy and all the other things children of our modern world expect to receive from their parents aka Father Christmas?

What would it be like if children all over the world went without just one toy from their festive gifts in aid of the starving and poverty stricken children. It would take a lot of organizing to gather in that money and it is a huge task but it could be done – all it needs is a good website supported by reliable well known people…. even if it took until Easter to collect the money – the children would still be starving.

Where are you Bob Geldorf? Can you help us with this? Does someone know his email address? My mind is boggling at the power of the people…… How about Skinny Kids for a campaign title – that rather sums it up!

Just a thought – maybe if that £5 we would be spending on a nonsense stocking gift for someone who has everything, was replaced with a warm note telling them Christmas is for children – starving children in particular – and they would be receiving his gift money with a tax gift aid. Sorry but this has been sent to starving “Skinny Kids” who have nothing.

I would hope we would get a really warm hug for this initiative. This friend really did not need an air freshener toy for his car or a key ring. If we did not get a big hug that receiver is a Christmas Meanie…. Take it from me. We will cross him off our Christmas list in future – so there.

Sorry to be a party pooper – but someone has to do it.  I will make up for it and send you some happier stories in the near future.

Take care. Jeanne.

Demand for Spanish-language cancer Web materials quadruples

Contact: Beth Bukata
bethb@astro.org
703-431-2332
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

Internet resources and access remain scarce

Although Spanish-speaking cancer patients are rapidly increasing their search for patient education resources on the Internet, there are very few Spanish-language Web sites available to provide this information, according to a study presented October 28, 2007, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 49th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

Spanish-speaking cancer patients were also shown to have more limited access to the Internet compared to English-speaking users of cancer information Web sites, based on the user patterns of the two groups.

“There is an urgent need for more Web-based information to be more available to Spanish-speaking patients with cancer, and Internet access needs to be more widely available,” said Charles Simone II, M.D., lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “The increased knowledge gained among these patients will help to eliminate healthcare disparities and lead to improved medical outcomes.”

The Spanish-language cancer information Web site, OncoLink en español, quadrupled their number of unique visitors last year, from 7,000 visitors per month in January 2006 to nearly 29,000 monthly visitors by the end of the year. More than 200,000 users visited the Web site in 2006.

In contrast, the English-language version of the site, OncoLink, had nearly 2 million visitors last year, although their number of unique visitors did not increase throughout the year. OncoLink en espanõl was launched in 2005 by OncoLink, one of the oldest and largest Internet-based cancer information resources. Both sites are managed by the University of Pennsylvania.

The study shows that OncoLink en español users were less likely to browse the Internet during weekends and morning hours, compared to the users who browsed OncoLink, suggesting that they are accessing the Internet more through work or specialized services.

In addition to when they accessed the Internet, OncoLink en español users also differed on the types of cancers they searched for, as well as the timing and method of their Internet search patterns.

“Awareness of these differences can assist cancer education Web sites to tailor their content to best meet the needs of their Spanish-speaking users,” said Dr. Simone.

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The study was carried out using AWStats, a Web-data analyzing program, to collect and compare statistical data from the secure servers of both language versions of OncoLink.

For more information on radiation therapy in English and in Spanish, visit www.rtanswers.org.

The abstract, “The Utilization of Radiation Oncology Web-based Resources in Spanish-speaking Oncology Patients,” will be presented for poster viewing starting at 10:00 a.m, Sunday, October 28, 2007. To speak to the study author, Charles Simone, II, M.D, please call Beth Bukata or Nicole Napoli October 28-31, 2007, in the ASTRO Press Room at the Los Angeles Convention Center at 213-743-6222 or 213-743-6223. You may also e-mail them at bethb@astro.org or nicolen@astro.org.

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FMS Global News Korea, Characteristic electron microscopic findings in the skin of patients with

Kim SH, Kim DH, Oh DH, Clauw DJ.
Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, South Korea, junjan@dongguk.ac.kr.

This blinded study was done to determine if there are any abnormal electron microscopic (EM) findings in the skin of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients, which might contribute to or be due to the increased pain sensitivity seen in this condition. Skin biopsy samples were obtained from 13 FMS patients and 5 control subjects. All tissues were prepared for EM examination by immediate prefixation in 2.5% glutaraldehyde for 2 h and postfixation in 1% osmium acid for 24 h. Ultrathin sections on grids were stained by uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Biopsies were read by an individual without knowledge of participant status. Five skin biopsies from healthy controls showed relatively even distribution of variegated sized unmyelinated axons sheathed well by complicatedly folded Schwann cell membranes. In tissues from 9/13 FMS patients, unmyelinated Schwann cells were noted to be ballooned, whereas this finding was not noted in any controls (p = 0.029). Axons in most patients trended towards being localized in the periphery of the unmyelinated Schwann cell sheaths (p = 0.002). Particularly, peripheral localization of axon in the unmyelinated Schwann cell sheath had a strong relationship with ballooning of Schwann cell (p = 0.042), simplified folding of Schwann cell sheath (p = 0.039) and smaller axon (p = 0.034). Myelinated nerve fibers were unremarkable. The EM findings seen in the skin of FMS patients show unusual patterns of unmyelinated nerve fibers as well as associated Schwann cells. If these findings are replicated in a larger study, these abnormalities may contribute to, or be due to, the lower pain threshold seen in FMS patients.

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DID IT HAPPEN IN OUR LONDON?

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2007

This is reported to have happened in London – I don’t think so. Not our London, not the one in the UK with Westminster, Parliament and our new Prime Minister. Not our country where 2% of the population has fibromyalgia – they wouldn’t have the energy to do this. But who knows in these days of PC – politically correctness – anything goes.
This information was sent to me (as a journalist who might be interested) by email and looked like a newspaper cutting. It had no date and very little details about which newspaper this had been published in. It was however written by a reporter named Mike Foster (who I am sure is no relation to Dr Foster who went to Gloucester) who allegedly was writing for the Weekly World News.
The headline intrigued me. It read, “Nine oldsters booted out of nursing home – for trying to have an orgy!”
No it is not our London we don’t have “oldsters”, but I felt I had to read on wondering if it had anything to do with the News of he World, a renowned paper for a bit of juicy gossip. I worked with a former chief reporter of the NoW and he was capable of writing such a story.
The story reported nine “love-hungry” codgers were booted out of an old folks’ home after attempts to organise an orgy in the recreation room. Aged between 73 and 98 the ‘oldsters’ had been planning the late night event for weeks, said the “spokesperson from for the well respected nursing home”. The partygoers were celebrating one woman’s 90th birthday with a sex party.

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The highs and lows of drug cravings

Contact: Charlotte Webber
press@biomedcentral.com
44-020-763-19980
BioMed Central

The anticipation of a cocaine fix and the actual craving to abuse the drug are two closely related phenomena, according to new evidence published today in the online open access journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.

The study, by Rinah Yamamoto and colleagues at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts assessed the suspected link by contrasting reactions to varying perceived availability of the drug. The researchers suggest that more appropriate care could be given if the degree of dependency and abuse were assessed in a natural environment with a potential access to the drug, rather than in a clinical setting.

Yamamoto explains that craving, is an intense and often irrepressible urge to seek and consume the drug, which can result in relapses even after extended periods of abstinence. In searching for effective therapies, understanding how craving, cognition and motivation are entwined is essential.

The researchers administered intravenous cocaine (0.2 mg/kg) to individuals with cocaine dependence who were not seeking treatment. “Unblinded” participants knew for certain they would receive cocaine, while the “blinded” group knew there was a 33 percent chance of getting the drug. The researchers obtained subjective ratings of craving, high, rush and low from the volunteers along with their heart rate and blood pressure measurements. Measurements were collected prior to cocaine administration and every minute for 20 minutes thereafter.

The results showed that several hours prior to the infusion all volunteers had similar craving scores. However, those volunteers who knew they were to receive a cocaine infusion said they felt a greater craving immediately prior to the receipt of cocaine than the “blinded” volunteers who did not know whether the infusion was placebo or the genuine drug. The team also found that the unblinded subjects experienced a more rapid onset of high and rush cocaine responses along with significantly higher cocaine-induced heart rate elevations.

The findings suggest that the cocaine expectancy state modulates the user’s subjective and objective responses to the drug. These data are consistent with the previous studies demonstrating that drug-induced elevated dopamine concentrations in the brain may prime drug users to associate the cues around the source of dopamine boost (e.g., cocaine) with the pleasure experienced once the drug is taken.

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Article:
Effects of perceived cocaine availability on subjective and objective responses to the drug
Rinah T Yamamoto, Katherine H Karlsgodt, David Rott, Scott E Lukas and Igor Elman
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy (in press)

During embargo, article available at: http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/imedia/1803962981502388_article.pdf?random=67240

After the embargo, article available from the journal website at: http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication

Please quote the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central’s Open Access policy.

Contact:
Laura Neves (Press Office, McLean Hospital)
Phone: 617/855-2110
Email: nevesl@mcleanpo.mclean.org

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing open access to peer-reviewed biological and medical research. This commitment is based on the view that immediate free access to research and the ability to freely archive and reuse published information is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.

BioMed Central currently publishes over 180 journals across biology and medicine. In addition to open-access original research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews, commentaries and other non-original-research content. Depending on the policies of the individual journal, this content may be open access or provided only to subscribers.

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Fibromyalgia syndrome : New developments in pharmacotherapy.

Harten P.
Schwerpunkt Rheumatologie, Sophienblatt 1, 24103, Kiel, Deutschland, p.harten@web.de.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) affects 2-10% of the adult population in industrial countries and although it is associated with substantial morbidity and disability, treatment options are unsatisfactory. The rapid growth of trials for FMS in recent years has resulted in new, evidence-based approaches to medical treatment. This review focuses on the randomized, controlled studies of newer pharmacological options for FMS, such as selective serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (duloxetine, milnacipran), inhibitors of voltage-gated calcium channels (pregabalin, gabapentin), dopamine-2/3-receptor agonists (pramipexole, ropirinole), sedative-hypnotic agents (sodium oxybate, modafinil, dronabinol), 5-HT3 antagonists (tropisetron) and others (tramadol, dextromethorphan, olanzapine).

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Israeli scientists identify: Genes that affect responses of multiple sclerosis patients to copaxone

Contact: Yivsam Azgad
news@weizmann.ac.il
972-893-43856
Weizmann Institute of Science

A group of Israeli scientists from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have recently identified genes responsible for the positive response of many multiple sclerosis patients to the drug Copaxone®. These findings may contribute to the development of personalized medicine for multiple sclerosis sufferers.

Copaxone® was the first original Israeli drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is today marketed in over 40 countries worldwide, including the U.S.A., Europe, Australia, Latin America and Israel.

The drug molecule was the fruit of research by Prof. Michael Sela, Prof. Ruth Arnon and Dr. Dvora Teitelbaum of the Weizmann Institute’s Immunology Department. It was developed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) by Teva, which produces and markets Copaxone® today.

‘Until now, medical treatments for all kinds of diseases have relied on trial and error methods to determine dosage and treatment protocols,’ says Prof. Ariel Miller of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, and Head of the Multiple Sclerosis and Brain Research Center, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa. ‘But the process of fixing the correct dosage affects the efficacy of the treatment and can lead to complications in some cases.’ In the past few years, it has been shown that many drugs are not equally effective for every patient, and this variability is due, at least in part, to genetic differences. Finding medications and doses to suit the genetic make-up of each individual patient is likely to be more successful and to cause fewer side effects.

The new research, which deals with the genetic components of the response to Copaxone®, was recently published in the journal Pharmacogenetics and Genomics. It represents a significant step toward realizing this medical vision. In the collaborative study, Teva supplied DNA samples from drug-treated patients, and the genetic tests were performed at the Crown Human Genome Center of the Weizmann Institute, headed by Prof. Doron Lancet of the Institute’s Department of Molecular Genetics. The scientists used state-of-the-art equipment – the first of its kind in Israel –which allows for the rapid and accurate scanning of variations in the human genome. The scientists then examined the links between the genetic markers they found and the response of MS patients to Copaxone®. They identified several genes that are tied to a positive response to the drug. ‘We analyzed the DNA sequences in 27 candidate genes from each patient participating in the trial,’ said Lancet, ‘and we identified two genes with a high potential for determining the response to Copaxone®. In the future, it may be possible to use this method to scan the genome of MS sufferers, to predict the response levels in advance, and to optimize the dosage and treatment protocol to suit each patient personally.’

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Also participating in the research were Prof. Jacques Beckmann (formerly at the Weizmann Institute); Drs. Liat Hayardeny and Dan Goldstaub of Teva; and Iris Grossman, a joint research student at the Technion and the Weizmann Institute.

Copaxone® – Interface between Past and Future

In the 1950’s, Prof. Efraim Katzir of the Weizmann Institute of Science, later fourth president of the State of Israel, commenced research on the properties of proteins – the building blocks of all biological systems. This research led to the design of simple synthetic models of proteins, called ‘polyamino acids.’ His research student at the time, Prof. Michael Sela (who later became President of the Weizmann Institute and was the recipient of, among many honors, the Israel Prize), decided to test the influence of these synthetic molecules on the immune system. This research led him to the conclusion that it might be possible to use these synthetic substances to curb symptoms of multiple sclerosis – an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks proteins in the fatty layer surrounding nerve fibers, preventing the conductance of electrical signals through them. Sela, together with his student at the time, Prof. Ruth Arnon (recipient of the Israel Prize and past Vice President of the Weizmann Institute and Vice President of the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia), and Dr. Dvora Teitelbaum, conducted a long series of experiments. These experiments eventually led to the development of Copaxone®, and clinical trials carried out by Teva showed its efficacy in treating MS. At the end of the process, in 1996, Copaxone® became the first original Israeli drug to be approved by the FDA. Today, following ten years of active sales in the U.S. and 40 countries around the world, Copaxone® has made a significant contribution to the Israeli economy.

Prof. Doron Lancet’s research is supported by the Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases; the Crown Human Genome Center; and the Laub Fund for Oncogene Research. Prof. Lancet is the incumbent of the Ralph and Lois Silver Professorial Chair in Human Genomics.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,600 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il.

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