Effects of a health education program on cytokines and cortisol levels in fibromyalgia patients: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome characterized by widespread chronic pain associated to other symptoms, such as: fatigue, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. Health education programs (HEP) have emerged as good non-pharmacological strategies to treat it. However, it is still not clear if the benefits are only subjective, or it has also objective impacts on immune and or neuroendocrine systems. Methods: Fifty-eight fibromyalgia women were randomly allocated in experimental group (n = 27) or control group (n = 31). The experimental group was submitted to HEP treatment ...