The line in the graph shows the decreases in a fibromyalgia patient’s pain distribution during treatment.
The pain distribution is the percentage of 36 body divisions containing pain, indicated by her on
her pain drawing. Her pain distribution decreased during metabolic (i.e. thyroid) treatment, during the first six weekly
evaluations. However the pain did not decrease further until soft tissue treatment was begun, at
See below for explanation
John Lowe is a Chiropractic Physician who has done an enormous amount of valuable work in researching and treating hormonal imbalances, particularly relating to the thyroid. To this end he has produced a huge volume of work, the most notable being his book The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia.
John has also contributed a chapter in my book, Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Practitioner’s Guide to Treatment. In this John explains the direct link between thyroid imbalances, and chronic pain and fatigue, such as may be experienced by individuals with fibromyalgia.
A brief extract from his chapter describes this connection (fully referenced in his chapter):
“The clinical features of FMS and hypothyroidism are virtually the same. The 13 most common FMS symptoms (pain, fatigue, stiffness, headaches, sleep disturbance, bowel disturbance, depression, poor memory and concentration, anxiety, cold intolerance, numbness and tingling, dry tissues, and difficulty exercising) are also common symptoms of hypothyroidism. Moreover, every objectively verified abnormality in FMS can be explained by inadequate thyroid hormone regulation of cell function . These include the low serotonin and high substance P levels that may mediate the chronic widespread pain and pressure sensitivity of FMS patients. Inadequate thyroid hormone regulation can plausibly explain both low serotonin secretion and high substance P levels.”
The illustration above shows how manual treatment can be more effective in treating myofascial pain, after thyroid balance is achieved.
John also publishes a regular newsletter the latest issue of which features an ongoing saga involving devious and dubious scheming between the pharmaceutical manufacturer Wyeth, and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Since John’s Newsletter explains this conspiracy fully, I will not attempt to summarise the story, except to say it involves an attempt to ban availability of a relatively safe, naturally occurring (and therefore unpatentable), hormonal substance estriol, and so limiting choice to products that are infinitely less safe (e.g. Premarin® and Prempro® – both derived from horse urine (more specifically the urine of pregnant mares!) – and both of which are patented) ……. a change that would be hugely profitable for both the manufacturers, and for the FDA, which derives much of its’ funding from fees relating to the drugs they license! (I was not aware of this until it was explained in Johns Newsletter….. were you?).
For details of the potential side-effects of these drugs, when treating hot flashes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms, go to the Wyeth website.
For those readers in the USA this presents an opportunity to activly campaign against this unholy alliance (Wyeth/FDA) by writing to legislators, as requested in John Lowe’s empassioned plea.
My intention today was in fact to write about the remarkable work of a Scottish artist researcher into esoteric issues, whose work was introduced to me via my daughter’s latest blog posting……
Hopefully I’ll get to this next ?