General Medicine

» tpme - FMS and Cancer

I read the following stufy back in 2002. I just wondered what you think of it, and if you've ever come across this link in your own research:

"A study involving 6569 people shows that FMS patients are three times more likely to die from cancer. (8) This statistic remained even after eliminating people who had previously had cancer, as well as those known to be at high risk of developing cancer, such as smokers. This finding was not related to a reduced cancer survival rate in FMS; healthy people and patients with FMS faired the same with regards to surviving cancer. The increase in cancer was solely attributed to an increase in its occurrence and no specific type of cancer stood out as more porminent. The study did not find increased mortality rates in FMS for any other diseases - just for cancer.
Why are FMS patients more susceptible to developing cancer? Levels of distress caused by chronic pain did not correlate with the cancer statistics. The authors speculated that the mechanisms associated with altered pain perception in FMS may be linked to cancer. Of interest, the authors of the fMRI study indicated that some of the abnormal findings in FMS overlapped with those found in cancer pain patients."

1. Gracely, RH, et al. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2002; 46(5):1333-43
2. Petzke F, et al. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2000; 43 (suppl):s2210
3. Katz NP, J Pain Symptoms Manage 2000; 19(1,suppl):s37-41
4. Willmore CB, et al. Neuropharmacology 2001; 41
(8);916-27
5. Bennet R, et al. Am J Med 1998; 104:227-31
6. Bennet R, et al. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2002; 46(5);1344-50
7. Cook MR, et al. Aviat Space Environ Med 2001; 72(12);1102-6
8. Macfarlane GJ. et a;/ BMJ 2001; 323;1-5

Regards,
Tamara

-- posted by tpme