IASP 12th World Congress on Pain

The International Association for the Study of Pain®'s (IASP's) World Congress on Pain is being held in Glasgow this week. FibroAction founder and Chair, Lindsey Middlemiss, attended the first day of the Congress, along with FibroAction Professional Advisory Board (PAB) member Daniel Austen, and Jo Fisher, the development officer for the Surrey & Sussex Support Group.

The IASP World Congress on Pain is a biennial, international and multidisciplinary event that attracts experts in pain from around the world. The 2008 event, being held at the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow, has around 5,000 delegates, with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Fibro) being widely acknowledged and well represented.

The highlight of the IASP World Congress on Pain for the Fibro community was a talk on Monday by leading Fibro expert, Daniel Clauw MD, discussing 'Stress and Chronic Pain: Lessons Learned from Fibromyalgia'. Dr Clauw is Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan, USA, and has authored over 100 papers relating to Fibro, as well as a number of book chapters.

In his 30 minute talk, given to a full room in the 3,000 seat Clyde Auditorium, Daniel Clauw MD discussed Fibro from its causes to its treatments. A full review of Dr Clauw's talk will be published shortly.

As well as Dr Clauw's talk, there were also a workshop and a number of poster presentations being given on Fibro. The topical workshop on Monday was on the subject 'Myalgia: Are Myofascial Trigger Points and Tender Points of Fibromyalgia the same or different phenomena?'.

One of the posters presented on Monday was 'Fibromyalgia: Impaired Top-Down Control during Anticipatory Pain Relief', describing a study by Canadian researchers showing that, although anticipating pain can lead to greater perceived pain levels, the physical pain response in patients with Fibro is extreme, maintained and unaffected by whether patients think that something will hurt or not. The researchers concluded that:

"...[the pain reading in Fibro] cannot be reduced to a psychological epiphenomenon, but rather suggests a true neurological disturbance."

This is more proof that Fibro is a real condition that causes increased levels of pain physically.

Other posters concerning Fibro that were presented on Monday included:

• 'Plaintiff and Expert Credibility: What Judges Look for in Fibromyalgia Claims'
• 'Personality traits, anxiety and depression levels among patients suffering from Fibromyalgia'
• 'Psychoendocrine Stress Response and Pain Perception in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome'

Further poster presentations on Fibro will be made during the week, including one from leading Fibro expert Patrick Wood MD on 'The Analgesic Capacity of Mesolimbic Dopamine D2 Receptors: Indirect Modulation of Thalamocortical Drive'.

The coverage of Fibro at an event of the size and importance of the IASP World Congress on Pain shows how seriously Fibro is beginning to be treated by the international community of doctors and researchers concerned with pain.