Exercise and Therapy Shown To Relieve Fibromyalgia Sufferers
A new study by the researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands have examined the effect of the combination of exercise and therapy in those suffering from fibromyalgia.
So van Koulil and her colleagues decided to test a “tailored” approach to CBT and exercise, the researcher told Reuters Health by email. The study focused on so-called high-risk fibromyalgia patients — those whose symptoms were causing a significant amount of distress, based on screening questionnaires looking at anxiety and depression symptoms. The researchers separated the patients into two groups based on their usual manner of dealing with their pain: those who avoided any activities they feared would worsen their pain; and those who kept up various activities despite their pain.
Patients in both groups were randomly assigned to either undergo 16 sessions of CBT-plus-exercise therapy or go on a wait-list for treatment.
In general, CBT aims to help people recognize thought patterns and emotional responses that contribute to their symptoms, and give them practical ways to change their behavior. For patients in this study who typically sought to avoid pain, the CBT sessions were designed to help them deal with their fear of pain and set goals for boosting their daily activities.
Overall, the researchers found that immediately after the treatment period, and six months later, both therapy groups were doing better than their counterparts on the waiting list. At the six-month mark, two-thirds of treated patients had “clinically significant” improvements in at least some measure of physical well- being — pain, fatigue or disability — versus one-third of wait-list patients.
Click here to read more about this study.
