A Regular Dip In The Pool Could Benefit Fibromyalgia Sufferers

This is a small sample size (n = 33), but it shows promise that researchers are looking into potential treatments for fibromyalgia. Even more promising, these researchers plan to compare aquatic exercise with other forms of gentle exercise like tai chi.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2008) — Patients
suffering from fibromyalgia could benefit significantly from regular exercise in
a heated swimming pool, a new study shows. The findings suggest a cost effective
way of improving quality of life for patients with this often-debilitating
disorder.

Fibromyalgia is a common, painful
syndrome, with no known cause and no accepted cure. Symptoms usually involve
chronic and severe pain and tenderness in muscles, ligaments and tendons. Pain
in the neck and shoulders is common but sufferers also report problems with
sleep, anxiety and depression. More than 90 percent of sufferers are female.
Physicians usually prescribe painkillers together with exercise and relaxation
techniques, but they may also prescribe a low-dose antidepressant.

Now, Narcís Gusi of the Faculty of
Sports Sciences, at the University of Extremadura, in Cáceres, Spain and Pablo
Tomas-Carus of the Department of Sport and Health at the University of Évora,
Portugal have carried out a randomized controlled trial with a group of 33
female fibromyalgia patients to find an alternative approach. Seventeen of the
patients took part in supervised training exercises in warm water for an hour
three times a week over a period of 8 months while the remaining sixteen did no
aquatic training.

Gusi and Tomas-Carus found that this
long-term aquatic exercise program was effective in reducing symptoms and
improving the health-related quality of life of the participants. In an earlier
study, the researchers had shown that even a short-term exercise regime could
reduce symptoms but pain would return once the patients stopped the exercise
course.

"The addition of an aquatic exercise
programme to the usual care for fibromyalgia in women, is cost-effective in
terms of both health care costs and societal costs," the researchers conclude,
"appropriate aquatic exercise is a good health investment." The researchers are
yet to compare aquatic training with more accessible and cheaper forms of
exercise, such as low-impact aerobics, walking, and tai-chi.

Journal reference: Narcis Gusi and
Pablo Tomas-Carus. Cost-utility of an 8-month aquatic training for women with
fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Arthritis Research & Therapy
(in press).

Adapted from materials provided by BioMed Central/Arthritis Research
& Therapy, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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