Early diagnosis and a comprehensive management plan for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are advised. With the right program of care, many patients with this condition are free of symptoms or have their symptoms under good control within two years of their diagnosis.

Many experts are investigating the cause and effects of fibromyalgia syndrome. It is called a syndrome because it isn't a disease, but a group of symptoms that occur together.

The word septic means infected; septic arthritis is an infection in the joint. Somehow, the joint becomes infected and can cause severe pain. Although it can happen in any joint, the knee is the one that is most often affected.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is often called the wear-and-tear arthritis. OA most often affects the hips, knees and spine, although it can affect other joints as well.

With time, the joints wear down and can cause bone-on-bone rubbing. This causes pain and, unless the joint is replaced, will continue to deteriorate.

There still remains many things we don't know about the condition called fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). It's not a disease, but rather, a group of symptoms that occur together. Pain is the most distressing symptom but patients can have a wide range of other problems. These may include poor sleep, joint and/or muscle pain, headaches, and fatigue (to name just a few).

I'd love to tell you that it's not true, but some parasites can get into the human body and set up residence. This happens in certain parts of the world where hygiene may make it easier for the parasites to affect humans.

One example is the tapeworm. As the tapeworm works its way through the body, it usually settles in the liver or lungs, although more rarely, it can settle just about anywhere else.

Up to 80 percent of people who have an amputation feel either phantom pain or stump pain (or both). Stump pain is easily understood for the most part as it is caused by the nerves where the limb was amputated.

Stump pain can include pain from rubbing against a prosthesis, swelling, wounds, infection, or many other problems. Phantom pain, on the other hand, is not well understood and does not seem to have a particular issue that can be pinpointed.

In 1980, a screening tool was developed by Waddell et al to assess nonorganic behaviors and signs. Nonorganic behaviors are thought to be driven by emotional or psychological distress, not necessarily underlying pathology. It also does not necessarily mean someone is purposefully faking an illness, but the behaviors are an expression of the underlying emotional or psychological distress. Some clinicians do not feel this screening tool is reliable however.

A. Apeldoorn et al.

Scientists are finding that because of genetic differences, usually in the ability of the body to breakdown or bind certain molecules, some people can respond to a drug when others do not. Those who are able to benefit from a drug are called responders. Those that do not are called non-responders.

H.J. McQuay et al. Enriched enrolment with randomised withdrawal (EERW): Time for a new look at clinical trial design in chronic pain. Pain 2008. Volume 135. Pp. 217-220.

Zyloprim is the brand name of a group of drugs used to treat gout called Allopurinol. Other allopurinol drugs on the market include Allohexal, Allosig, Progout, and Zyloric.

Allopurinol is a drug used to treat conditions arising from excess uric acid. The most common of these is chronic gout. Zyloprim does not take away the acute attacks of gout. But it is useful in preventing recurrence.