Comorbid Chronic Pain Conditions - Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Treatments

描述(申请人提供)：TMJ协会第六届科学会议--“慢性疼痛共病--机制、诊断和治疗”，定于2010年6月5-7日在马里兰州贝塞斯达的美国实验生物学联合会会议中心举行。本次会议和以往会议的必要性是基于两个重要因素。首先，据估计，美国约有3600万人患有颞下颌关节紊乱病(TMD)。大多数是育龄妇女。这些患者的身体、心理和经济负担是令人信服的。其次，仍然缺乏对这些疾病的病因学的科学了解，以此作为诊断和开发安全有效的治疗方法的基础。为了促进这一领域的研究，TMJ协会从2000年开始组织了五次科学会议。这些会议召集了颞下颌关节紊乱病领域和其他学科的科学家，以确定和解决TMD患者的多种症状和经常发现的并存情况。第六次科学会议的主题建立在前五次会议的证据基础上，表明TMD是一个复杂的疾病家族，受到遗传、性别、环境和行为触发因素的影响，调节患者对TMD的脆弱性，通常表现为不止是颌骨和肌肉疼痛以及颌骨功能障碍。第六次会议将集中讨论与TMD并存并构成慢性疼痛条件(CCPC)的慢性疼痛条件下的病理生理过程。这些症状包括：慢性疲劳综合征、慢性头痛、子宫内膜异位症、纤维肌痛、肠易激综合征、间质性膀胱炎和外阴疼痛。会议将邀请来自基金和患者倡导组织的主要领导人和代表参与，他们将提出建议，推动这一领域的研究。会议的具体目的是确定：1.目前对CCPC的潜在机制有什么了解；2.我们需要知道关于CCPC的什么(例如，病例定义、诊断)；3.最有希望从事的研究领域(最佳方法、资源)；4.如何最好地促进CCPC治疗模式的发展；5.需要采取哪些方法来鼓励、培训和维持CCPC研究界；以及6.哪些高风险研究领域有可能大幅提高我们对CCPC的理解。 与公共卫生相关：多达5000万美国人经历了以下六种疾病中的一种或多种，这些疾病也出现在许多TMD患者中-它们是慢性疲劳综合征、子宫内膜异位症、纤维肌痛、间质性膀胱炎、颞下颌关节紊乱病和外阴疼痛。仅这六种疼痛状况的估计成本就高达800亿美元，由于缺乏对其原因的了解和有效的治疗方法，这基本上被浪费了。这次会议将加速科学研究，这将有助于减少这些疾病给患者、他们的亲人和整个国家带来的痛苦和经济负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Sixth Scientific Meeting of The TMJ Association, "Comorbid Chronic Pain Conditions - Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Treatments", is scheduled to be held on June 5-7, 2010 at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The need for this meeting and that of previous meetings has been based on two important factors. First, the number of people affected in the U.S. by temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is estimated to be approximately 36 million. The majority are women in their childbearing years. The physical, psychological and financial burden on these patients is compelling. Second, there continues to be a dearth of scientific understanding of the etiology of these conditions upon which to base diagnostics and develop safe and effective treatments. To stimulate research in this field, The TMJ Association has organized five scientific meetings beginning in the year 2000. These meetings have convened scientists in the temporomandibular disorders field and other disciplines to characterize and address the multiple symptoms and frequently found comorbid conditions in TMD patients. The theme of the sixth scientific meeting builds upon evidence from the five previous meetings demonstrating that TMD are a complex family of conditions influenced by genetics, gender, environmental and behavioral triggers mediating the vulnerability of patients to TMD and typically manifesting as more than jaw and muscle pain and jaw dysfunction. The sixth meeting will focus on the pathophysiological processes underlying the chronic pain conditions which co-exist with TMD and constitute comorbid chronic pain conditions (CCPC). They include: chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic headache, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and vulvodynia. The meeting will engage key leaders and representatives from funding and patient advocacy organizations who will develop recommendations to advance research in this field. The specific aims of the meeting are to determine: 1. What is currently known about underlying mechanisms of CCPC; 2. What we need to know about CCPC (e.g., case definition, diagnostics); 3. What research areas are most promising to pursue (best approaches, resources); 4. How best to foster the development of treatment modalities for CCPC; 5. What approaches are necessary to encourage, train, and sustain a CCPC research community; and 6. What high-risk research areas have the potential to substantially advance our understanding of CCPC. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Up to 50 million Americans experience one or more of the following six conditions, also seen in many TMD patients - they are chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, temporomandibular disorders, and vulvodynia. The estimated cost of the six pain conditions alone is $80 billion, which, because of the lack of understanding their cause and the availability of effective treatments, is essentially wasted. This meeting will accelerate the scientific research which will contribute to the reduction of the suffering and financial burden these conditions place upon the patients, their loved ones and our nation as a whole.