Magnetic brain stimulation could improve quality of life in fibromyalgia

 Transcranial magnetic stimulation improves quality of life in people with fibromyalgia, but does not have any effect on pain, according to a small study published in Neurology.

A total of 38 people who had from fibromyalgia pain for more than six months were split into two groups. Half received high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (14 sessions over 10 weeks) and the other half had sham stimulation. Quality of life, pain, mood and anxiety were recorded at the start of the treatment and then at week 2 and week 11. The participants also had PET scans to assess any changes in their brains.

At week 11, people who had transcranial magnetic stimulation had greater quality of life improvement (mainly in mood and feelings, emotional areas and social dimensions) than those in the sham treatment group.  These findings correlated with changes seen in the PET scans.

The implications

“This improvement is associated with an increase in brain metabolism, which argues for a physical cause for this disorder and for the possibility of changes in areas of the brain to improve the symptoms,” says Dr Eric Guedj, who led the work.

Next steps

More research is needed because while the study suggests an association between transcranial magnetic stimulation and improved quality of life, it does not prove a cause-and-effect link. Experts also need to look at how long the treatment effect lasts for and how often it should be repeated.

Click here to read the original research.