30,000 fibromites subscribe to PatientsLikeMe (PLM), submitting medical history, medications prescribed and a subjective pain & fatigue score. Site FAQ is unashamed in disclosing that information is for sale, the loss of privacy being traded against useful efficacy reports on interventions.  Epidemiological comparisons between climatically alike countries Canada/Baltic states and Australia/NZ wasn’t of as much interest as was extracting timeframe from first symptoms to the patient’s obtaining a diagnosis of FM. Although India’s supremacy isn’t statistically significant (Mann-Whitney non-parametric test is around the median, rather than averages) at reducing doctor-shopping in order to find an enlightened one, this issue is nonetheless worth visiting. Which is where the past few months went!

First observation was that doctors aren’t quite so other worldly as in the West, and as a service provider they’re relatively cheap. Few bucks for a consultation, which can easily be circumvented since pharmacies don’t require a script. The GP competes with doctors of Ayurvedic medicine using traditional methods, regulated and funded by Govt. The most famous advocate, Deepak Chopra is currently undertaking clinical trials into efficacy across 6 Universities (including Harvard). Practitioners questioned on therapy’s mechanisms seemed well informed. Fabricated pharmaceutical trial reports in Hyderabad is a recent cloud of infamy over the 1000 generic drugs suspended by the European Drug Agency, but scientific research has been less creatively and more rigorously innovative. An excellent appraisal of other’s studies on active therapies for fibromyalgia out of Delhi ‘Autonomic nervous system profile in fibromyalgia patients and its modulation by exercise: a mini review’ was sufficiently impressive to warrant linking of an excerpt under Downloads.

A second observation is that meditation and yogic thought were embraced by a disproportionate number of foreigners. Rishikesh is the usual destination, but an interest in Iyengar yoga led down the coast through Pune (BKS’s hometown) to Goa (more than just a beach!). The Himalayan Iyengar school relocates here for the winter, running Yoga retreats like bootcamps. Although the practice includes props used to support chronic ailment sufferers in position, the 4 hours were intense. Describing their teaching that “… all myalgias can be fixed by hanging upside down” as lacking evidence base is an understatement, but the idea of tackling dysautonomia by increasing pressure upon baroreceptors could indeed have merit. At a nondescript studio in Koregaon Park, Pune the class concluded with assessment of disposition and dietary recommendations. This picked up lifestyle behaviors that preceded contraction of FM, and was quite in accordance with science (© Elsevier). Yoga is described as India’s gift to the world, and local surgeon Dr Ranjit Rao shares his insights “Chronic pain conditions such as …, and fibromyalgia are often better managed with a holistic approach that includes yoga as well as other modalities.” His book ‘Meditation & Martini‘ attempts to bridge the gulf between advocates of pharmacotherapy and self-healing.
Gooders*, but is it effective? A query on PLM which ranks all interventions by patient’s score puts yoga third, behind LowDose Naltrexone and D-Ribose (mitochondrial fuel supply). Surprisingly, theCochraneLibrary.org has very little to contribute. Of 34 conditions treated by yoga reviewed systematically, ranging from epilepsy to dementia there’s no report on benefit in musulo-skeletal conditions (bar Prof Wieland’s in-progress evaluation of the literature for chronic lower-back pain). Rheumatology has focused overmuch upon lifelong dependence on palliative drugs at the expense of multi-disciplinary therapy, but another excerpt scanned this time from ‘Yoga for Arthritis‘ out of Swami Vivekananda Yoga press in Bangalore is rather more inclusively enlightened.

* Naval slang, translated: ‘Good as’ can be expected, in an otherwise hopeless situation. Actually, I’ve always had a healthy respect for India.