IGF-1 And Women With Fibromyalgia

The US National Library of Medicine recently released a study that shows IGF-1 may have an effect on physical exercise for women with fibromyalgia.

Research from the study shows that sudden burst of physical activity or exercise after introducing IGF-1 helps improve muscle metabolism. Muscle metabolism is the use of energy that the muscle produces. This helps moderate the muscles during the high intensity workouts. 

What is Fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is an arthritis-based disorder characterized by musculoskeletal pain from nerves in different areas of the body. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty with sleep, memory issues, and mood issues. Many researchers believe it increases a person's reception to pain and how the brain processes pain signals.

Statics show that women are more affected by fibromyalgia than men. It's estimated about 75-90% of people who have the disorder are women. Many women with fibromyalgia are in pain during most activities or even from doing nothing.

This means that exercising at high intensity is much more difficult for people with fibromyalgia because of muscle pain. Most people with fibromyalgia can only exercise at moderate intensities, but this means their bodies don't experience the effects of high intensity workouts, which is usually increased muscle metabolism.

Low IGF-1 Levels And Women with Fibromyalgia

Patients with fibromyalgia may be one of the largest populations of growth factor deficient individuals. New evidence suggests that fibromyalgia patients are deficient in growth factor secretion. Growth factor therapy may be warranted in these patients.

Marie Cook, a nurse at Oregon Health Sciences University of Portland, has stated that she and her colleagues have pursued a possible fibromyalgia connection after observing that fibromyalgia and growth factor deficiency syndrome share many clinical features. These include muscle weakness, reduced exercise capacity, and chronic fatigue.

In an earlier study they found that 30 to 40% of fibromyalgia patients had low IGF 1 levels compared with age and gender matched controls. To further assess this apparent deficiency they performed growth factor stimulating tests in 50 fibromyalgia patients with low IGF-1. Forty one had abnormally low growth factor response to provocative testing.

Fibromyalgia affects about three and a half percent of the United States women and about one-half percent of the men. It is also believed to be the number two reason for office visits to rheumatologists, second only to rheumatoid arthritis. IGF-1 may be able to help return strength, increase endurance, and improve immune response simultaneously.

From Velvet Deer Antler: The Ultimate Antiaging Supplement, Dr. Alex Duarte, O.D., Ph.D. p. 69.