A brand new neuroscience research project is about to get underway on the Isle of Wight that will focus its attention on the debilitating chronic pain condition, Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS).
The Island’s Radiology and Chronic Pain departments will be linking with neuroscience colleagues at both Imperial College and University of Southampton to explore new techniques to help them better understand the condition.
Welcome news for sufferers
FMS can affect people of all ages to varying degrees. Some patients are able to self manage the condition and continue with a reasonable quality of life. Others are affected far more seriously, with severe mobility and cognitive problems.
Research has been limited over the years, so news of this project will be welcomed by all who live with the condition.
New imaging techniques
IW NHS Trust say,
“Specifically, Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a focus as it potentially represents a quintessentially functional condition that, if understood, may provide a paradigm for better insight into other similar such presentations.
“There have been several specific areas within pain, neurological, and cognitive sciences that have recently provided an opportunity to develop an objective paradigm for understanding these conditions. At the core of these discoveries is modern neuroscience and imaging techniques.”
Professor Basant Puri from Imperial College / Hammersmith Hospital will be visiting the Island this weekend to work with the local team scanning patients in the MRI scanner at St. Mary’s.
Image: Mark Hillary under CC BY 2.0
