Weekly Health Care

Posts Tagged ‘rheumatologists’

New criteria for diagnosis of fibromyalgia, which the American College of Rheumatology endorsed, could lead to an increase in diagnosed cases, according to a study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

The current diagnostic criteria are the tenderness of 11 or more points 18 and generalized pain in all four quadrants of the body for three months. But this method is not safe, “said Robert Katz of Rush University (Chicago). The doctors, he said, are not comfortable with the examination of sensitive points and these points fluctuate over time.

The new criteria avoid sensitive issues and review. They rely instead on an index of generalized pain, consisting of a list of 19 elements, combined with a scale of severity of symptoms. The person indicates the number of body parts when she experienced pain during the previous week. The scale of symptoms includes sleep, not recovery, fatigue and cognitive problems, which are three characteristics of the disease. Symptoms are rated on a severity scale of 0-3.

According to Katz, this new set of criteria “casts a wider net” and the number of diagnoses could double or even triple.

The researchers developed and tested the new criteria with 829 people with the disease and a group of people with other disorders such as painful syndrome affecting the neck and back as well as osteoarthritis. The new criteria allow to identify 88% of people with fibromyalgia without physical examination or consideration of sensitive issues.

With these new criteria, all physicians, not only rheumatologists should find it easier to diagnose, “said Katz.

Daniel J. Clauw University of Michigan at Ann Arbor who has worked on the development of new criteria was that the old criteria based on sensitive issues were not intended to diagnose initially, but looking.

This study was funded by the Lilly laboratory that produces the antidepressant Cymbalta (duloxetine) used for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Clauw said receiving consulting fees from Pfizer, Lilly, Forest, Cypress Biosciences, Pierre Fabre, UCB and AstraZeneca.