Posted on March 1, 2001 at 9:42 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A study under way at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) aims to determine the effects of stress on pain perception in patients with fibromyalgia compared to healthy people. Fibromyalgia, a disorder characterized by muscle pain, stiffness and fatigue, affects nearly three million people, mostly women, in the United States.

“It’s believed that stress can exacerbate symptoms of fibromyalgia,” says Laurence A. Bradley, Ph.D., professor of clinical immunology and rheumatology at UAB. “The study will show if patients with fibromyalgia experience different physiological changes under stress than healthy people do."

The study will measure the release of certain chemicals from the brain to the bloodstream, as well as changes in blood flow in the brain, blood pressure and heart rate — indicators of the brain’s response to pain. “We want to determine if pain responses in the brain produced by stress and heat applied to the arm correlate with changes in blood flow through certain parts of the brain associated with pain sensitivity.”

Volunteers will be asked to recall relaxing and stressful situations they have experienced under brief periods of heat-stimulated pain. “Imagery, positive or negative, can have a very powerful effect on pain perception,” Bradley says. “However, it’s thought that people with fibromyalgia, as a result of impaired function of certain brain structures, may respond differently from healthy people to stressful and relaxing imagery and to heat stimulation. The study will show if that’s true.”

The study also will provide researchers with a better understanding of the factors that affect pain sensitivity. “There are many biological and social factors, like stress, that interact with one another to alter pain perception,” Bradley says. “Understanding how these factors interact will help us better understand the pain problems of patients with fibromyalgia and may help us develop better, more targeted treatments for these patients.”

Researchers are recruiting 60 fibromyalgia patients with sudden onset pain, 60 fibromyalgia patients with gradual onset pain and 60 healthy patients. Following an initial screening and exam, eligible volunteers will make two visits to the clinic for testing. Participants will be compensated $300 for their time.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Adriana Sotolongo at (205) 934-9614.