Mechanisms of Chronic Pain and Fatigue
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Viscero-sensory processes and neural responses to inflammation: mechanisms of pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia
IRAS ID
207362
Contact name
Kevin Davies
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 27 days
Research summary
Fibromyalgia is a musculoskeletal condition affecting around 5% of the UK population. Patients often experience pain with tiredness (fatigue) and clouded thoughts (‘fibro-fog’), which can stop them from enjoying a normal active life. As a result, patients with fibromyalgia have significantly lower quality of life than the general population and even patients with other musculoskeletal conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis. Despite its prevalence, fibromyalgia remains poorly recognized and understood, by doctors and patients alike.
Medical test show that patients with fibromyalgia may have problems with their bodies own arousal ‘fight and flight’ response to stress. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that inflammatory responses may be abnormal in fibromyalgia, and patients may be more sensitive to inflammation. This project seeks to understand how the body and brain affect each other to cause pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia.
First, this study will investigate how pain and fatigue change when the flight and fight nervous system is activated by a mild challenge to the ‘fight and flight’ nervous system: lying in a tilted position. Second, we will investigate how pain and fatigue change with a mild inflammatory challenge. We will induce a mild state of inflammation using a routine clinical Typhoid vaccination, and use brain scanning to measure differences in brain structure and function (with blood markers) between people with pain and/or fatigue, and healthy people.
The detailed insights we will obtain from this work will help improve doctor-patient communication, reduce stigma and improve patient experience. This research has great potential to identify mechanisms of pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia and therefore in the longer term may lead to better interventions to improve quality of life and inform further research towards treatments and cures for the disorder.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0845
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion