Thirty-one Research Projects Funded

AFSA is the only charitable organization whose primary mission is to seed research in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). We acknowledge that patient and physician education, public awareness and advocacy are all important ingredients in aiding the lives of people with FMS and CFS. However, advances in research provide the most crucial ingredient for enriching the daily well-being of those who suffer with these hard-to-treat syndromes. Close to 90% of all contributions to AFSA go directly to funding research. Not one cent of your contributions pay for a researcher's University/Institution overhead costs or other extraneous expenses that might whittle away at your donation dollars. AFSA's board and its medical advisory committee work tirelessly as volunteers (not paid employees) to solicit budget-conscious, superior quality research applications. Our main objective is to advance the science of FMS and CFS, as well as provide better therapeutic interventions for all patients.

In all funded studies, patients are screened to determine if they meet the diagnostic criteria for both FMS and CFS so that conclusions can be drawn about both syndromes.

Projects Funded in 2008

• Low-Dose Naltrexone for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia

Projects Funded in 2006

• Establishing a Fibromyalgia Tissue Donation Program for Studying Human Chronic Pain States
• Alterations in COMT Gene Contribute to Pain Susceptibility in FMS
  Part 2- Comparison of large patient/control population in Mexico Versus Spain
• CFS - Role of Sleep Disturbance and Exercise on Symptoms and Cytokine Production

Projects Funded in 2004

• The Role of Inflammation for Pain in Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome
• Translation from Animals to Humans: Are Chronic Pain States in Humans Associated with Glial Activation in Spinal Cord and/or Brain?
• Association of Fibromyalgia with the Low Activity Catechol-O-Methyl-Transferase (COMT) Alleles
• Part 2: Cloning a Pain Neuropeptide Receptor

Projects Funded in 2002

• A Case-Controlled Study of Proton Spectroscopy in Fibromyalgia
• EBV Transformation for Genetic Studies on FMS

Projects Funded in 2001

• Noradrenaline Deficient Mice as a Model for FMS
• Autoimmune Mechanisms of Disordered Pain Perception
• Opioid Receptors in the Skin and Muscle Tissue of FMS Patients - Part 2

Projects Funded in 2000

• The Role of DNIC in FMS Pain and Treatment

Projects Funded in 1999

• Molecular Biology of Opioid Receptors in Skin and Muscle Tissue of FMS Patients
• Autoantibodies to Neuropeptides in Fibromyalgia
• Randomized Clinical Trial of Clonazepam versus Placebo in FMS/CFS

Projects Funded in 1998

• Fibromyalgia: Chronic Effects of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the Spinal Cord
• Cloning a Pain Neuropeptide Receptor
• The Effect of Graded Exercise on Temporal Summation of Second Pain (Wind-Up) in Patients with FMS
• Cytokines, Fibromyalgia Subsets and the Th1/Th2 Axis
  

Projects Funded in 1997

• Role of the Limbic Brain System in Abnormal Pain Perception in FMS
• A Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Study to Determine Whether Dextromethorphan is More Effective Than a Placebo in the Treatment of FMS Pain
• Sensitization in FMS and CFS - with and without Chemical Intolerance
• The Role of Zinc in FMS
• Pain Induced Changes in Basal Ganglia and Limbic System Function Among Patients with FMS, CFS, and Healthy Controls versus People with Major Depression

Projects Funded in 1996

• Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in FMS and Pain-Free Controls
• Melatonin in Patients with FMS and CFS
• Neuroendocrine Therapies for FMS and CFS

Projects Funded in 1995

• Sleep, Immune and Endocrine Function in FMS
  
• Autonomic Function in FMS and CFS