Fibromyalgia / Chronic Pain
Research Program
Welcome to the website for the
joint
This site is provided to keep you up to date on developments in our work and research, and to be a center for sharing information with those interested in participating. This site is also meant to be informative for anybody dealing with chronic pain conditions, especially FMS and chronic myofascial pain.
Use the links below to take you to the different areas of the site …
July 17, 2006: MAJOR news update at the bottom of this page!
Questions and Answers from the Kettering University FMS / Chronic Pain Forum (updated April 9, 2002)
Suggested Reading, Plus Selected Research Papers and Articles
I need to LEARN MORE about my condition
I need to help my physician understand more about my condition
Finding a physician in
your area
THE MOST RECENT NEWS:
July 17, 2006 News Update:
Progress on the Study: The study has now completed its third treatment
group (out of about 12 planned). We’re
finally making great progress!! Plus, we’re
reaching a point where it’s time to start enrolling more patients. For those of you who applied to the study
but were NOT called for the first round of enrollment, you can expect to start
hearing from us around August, 2006. As always, be patient and wait to be
contacted. It may seem like it's taking forever, but the process
is moving along. IT
IS SO VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT CALL KETTERING UNIVERSITY OR McLAREN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER TO TRY TO FIND OUT
INFORMATION ABOUT THE STUDY OR ITS PROGRESS! While
we consistently ask this, many individuals have ignored this request and have
called anyway. Doing so creates a
very serious administrative problem that puts the study at risk of being
stopped altogether. We cannot be
more sincere when we ask that you NOT call the university or hospital asking
“what’s taking so long”, or “when will I be
called”.
Videotapes: We have discontinued
availability of the videotape from our 2002 FMS Forum at Kettering University.
Thank You! To all who have already completed the study, we cannot thank you
enough for your commitment!! We’re
looking forward to the study being complete and sharing with all the outcome ...
November 3, 2005 News Update:
Progress on the Study: The study has now enrolled about one-half of all
patients needed to complete the research.
As a result, the research team has decided to complete treatment on this
group before enrolling any more patients.
Therefore, if you have NOT been called yet to schedule your first examination, please be aware that we will not be
doing those again until sometime around summer 2006. On the other hand, please note:
1. If you have already been examined and
included in the study, AND have had your EEG analysis done, you’ll be
contacted by a representative of the study VERY SOON to schedule treatment.
2. If you have been examined and
included in the study, but have NOT had your EEG analysis done, you’ll be
contacted by a representative of the study in November or December to schedule
EEG analysis. You’ll then be
scheduled for treatment sometime in the spring of 2006.
Letters in the Mail: Letters will be sent to all patients in our database that have NOT been examined yet in early November. The purpose of these letters is to give a specific update to those who haven’t been examined and/or are not already in the study’s patient group. We expect that a number of these letters will be returned as undeliverable (e.g. you may have moved). If you are an active applicant that has NOT been examined yet, and you did not receive this letter, PLEASE SEND A NOTE IN THE MAIL to Dr. Jeff Hargrove, Kettering University, 1700 W. Third Avenue, Flint, Michigan, 48504. To assure that your letter is delivered properly, mark the envelope “Attn: FMS Study”. Make sure to give us your new address and current daytime phone number. Please be aware that no phone calls will be accepted. We need you to provide the new information in writing.
The Passing of Time: As we all know by now, the processes of this research study are very time consuming. Physician's schedules only permit a few appointments a week. Follow-up EEG analysis must be done, and then treatment takes approximately 10 weeks per patient! Keep in mind that there are over 350 applicants, so it’s going to take a lot of time to get to everybody. As always, be patient and wait to be contacted. It may seem like it's taking forever, but the process is moving along. IT IS SO VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT CALL KETTERING UNIVERSITY OR McLAREN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER TO TRY TO FIND OUT INFORMATION ABOUT THE STUDY OR ITS PROGRESS! While we consistently ask this, many individuals have ignored this request and have called anyway. Doing so creates a very serious administrative problem that puts the study at risk of being stopped altogether. We cannot be more sincere when we ask that you NOT call the university or hospital asking “what’s taking so long”, or “when will I be called”.
October 26, 2004 News Update:
Progress on the Study: The research team has announced that a quantitative
electroencephalograph (QEEG) has been purchased and will be used to acquire EEG
data from participants in the study. The
use of QEEG makes the study tremendously stronger. QEEG data from patients can be compared to a
number of already-existing databases to help us pinpoint and understand any
abnormalities that may be found. One of
the key premises of the study is that FMS patients may have abnormal EEG
patterns that could be related to dysfunction of pain regulation processes in
the brain. Getting a QEEG done is easy
and painless. In fact, it takes less
time than the previous method we were using to get EEG data. In essence, the difference is how the data is
acquired. In our old method of getting
EEG data, we placed a single EEG lead (the sensor that rests on your scalp and
is held in place by a wax-like paste) at a site on your head. While the lead is in place, we would acquire
eight seconds of EEG data. Then we would
move the lead to another site and repeat the process. This was done until 19 sites were completed
all over the scalp. With QEEG, 19 EEG
sensors are embedded in a cloth cap, and all 19 of these are connected to a
measurement instrument. The cap is
placed gently on the head so that the patient remains perfectly comfortable. Contact is made between the scalp and the
sensor by inserting a small amount of conductive gel under the sensor. This gel is much cleaner and easier to work
with than the old paste. Once the 19
sites are prepared, the QEEG machine collects EEG data all at once, giving full
data for analyzing the entire brain at any instant in time. Because the process is much more efficient,
we’re able to collect a total of 10 minutes worth of EEG data (instead of
8 seconds per site), which gives a much better basis to analyze for discovering
any abnormalities in patterns that may exist.
In all, adding the QEEG is a big step forward!
Letters in the Mail: Letters were sent to all patients in our database in mid-October. If you are an active applicant to the study you should have received this letter by now. However, a number of letters were returned as undeliverable (e.g. you may have moved). If you are an active applicant and you did not receive this letter, PLEASE SEND A NOTE IN THE MAIL to Dr. Jeff Hargrove, Kettering University, 1700 W. Third Avenue, Flint, Michigan, 48504. To assure that your letter is delivered properly, mark the envelope “Attn: FMS Study”. Make sure to give us your new address and current daytime phone number. Please be aware that no phone calls will be accepted. We need you to provide the new information in writing.
Scheduling Current Patients: If you have been examined already at McLaren and have been enrolled in the study, then the next step of getting your QEEG evaluation done is just around the corner. Expect to hear from a representative of the study sometime in the month of November to make an appointment. This appointment will take approximately one hour to complete.
Scheduling New Patients: If you have NOT been examined yet for the
study, but have applied to the study and have returned an intake survey, the
process of making these appointments has now resumed. This process is
time consuming. Physician's schedules only permit four appointments a
week. Keep in mind that there are over 350 applicants, so it may take
some time before you are contacted and asked to make an appointment. As
always, be patient and wait to be contacted. It may seem like it's taking
forever, but the process is moving along. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT! DO NOT CALL KETTERING
UNIVERSITY OR McLAREN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER TO TRY
TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT! We will contact you when it is time to make an
appointment, and no appointments will be made via any other means.
Visit the Kettering University Webpage Visit the McLaren Regional Medical Center Webpage