Talk:Benign fasciculation syndrome
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[edit] Fixed the discussion page
The discussion page was pretty badly organized so I fixed things for you guys. Remember to sign your posts with four tildas. I agree with all of you about how poorly written the article is and I think that any one of you should go ahead and clean it up. I might even do it myself. As long as you have references. I think the emphasis on anxiety, even suggesting it as a cause, is absolutely ludicrous. And my fasciculations aren't even benign (I have a syrinx)! Anybody would have anxiety. Just more crap from the medical community to explain what they don't understand. They betray the very basis of science. Cyborg Ninja 07:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] BFS comments
I think it would be helpful if the list of conditions that may lead to BFS, or be associated with it, was expanded. Also, it might be better if the article were a little more structured into sub-categories. Generally, however, I thought the page was pretty good when I viewed it.
My meta-comment (which may not be very popular here) is that Wikipedia would be more valuable with a more structured moderation process, with signed "frozen" articles subject to change by a voting or committee process. If I'm a patient researching medical conditions on Wikipedia, I'd like to know whether the person(s) writing the articles had any medical training or credentials; and I'd like to know that some joker didn't just randomly change something they had written.
This is not meant as a commentary or criticism of this particular article; it's just that medical topics point up, perhaps more than anything else, the inherent weakness of the Wiki concept.
I like the comment on stress being a cause, particularly medical school. I'm a med student and seem to have noticed some fasciulations in the last year or two. Note, other sources suggest caffeine may also be a cause.
- New comment--In answer to your question, above, the person who wrote the BFS description has no medical training at all but posts prolifically on various medical help sites. Some of the information he gives is good and some is totally wrong (he's told people that if their symptoms improve they can't have MS, for instance). It will not surprise you to learn that he has BFS, ADD, essential tremor and extreme health anxiety. I think his BFS post is more a projection than a definition. You won't find the information he posted in any legitimate medical text.
[edit] What a mess
This syndrome has nothing to do with anxiety, except that it creates anxiety in anxious people who happen to also have it. Every reference to anxiety, including globus sensation, could be stricken from the article to its improvement. -ikkyu2 (talk) 23:34, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
- I agree, the main problem to me is that the article seem to tell that anxiety is caused by this, as a symptom. I think that's only casually correlated. If you're suffering from anxiety during some time, you may get this, but I don't think it works the other way around, as some sort of implied psychological disorder. -- Northgrove 07:10, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] This is garbage.
I agree that this has nothing to do with anxiety. Whoever wrote this is full of crap....sounds like the author is a shrink or some kind of arrogant quack who attributes everything that he can't explain to anxiety. What a jerk.
Isn't it interesting that everything that can't be explained by medical science is attributed to anxiety by arrogant jerks who have never even experienced the symptom?
[edit] Comments from a new wikipedia user
I am an emergency physician and recently was diagnosed by a neurologist with benign fasciculation syndrome or is he called it, cramp fasciculation syndrome -- CFS. I thought the article was generally well-written, however I agree with the commentaries highlighting an apparent over emphasis on anxiety in the discussion, I felt it was too much as well. I did make an edit, my first-ever, disputing the conclusion that anxiety could be used to aid in the diagnosis of this syndrome. Anyone who has a potentially life-threatening illness would also be anxious, my grandfather died of ALS, if I had ALS, I would be anxious about that too. Having been diagnosed with BFS instead, I have very little anxiety. Since I also have ADD, I would like to know where the author found references linking ADD to CFS. DF
[edit] Sources for Anxiety (or any) Claims in This Article?
Can anyone supply references to support claims in this article that imply anxiety is a causal factor in BFS? All I've found in the medical literature is Mitsikostas et al, who merely found that fasciculation potentials "were slightly correlated to the body weight and height and to the anxiety level." Finding a slight correlation hardly fits the numeous unreferenced claims in this article that imply anxiety is a known primary cause. Can anyone supply supporting literature references for those or any claims in this article? Ian Goddard 05:49, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
I've been through BFS, and my anxiety resulted from, it did not cause, the problem. My neurologist told me that this was the standard experience: strange twitching, pain resulting from the twitching, severe anxiety (most often found in patients intelligent enough to do research on the symptoms or whose primary care physicians send them to a neurologist out of concern that they are suffering from ALS.). He also informed me that he had reason to believe that the condition was triggered by a cold or flu virus. He put me on an anti-anxiety drug but not, primarily, to allay anxiety: the reason was that it was a direct muscle relaxant and it effectively alleviated the symptoms until the condition cleared up on its own. This article requires MUCH more serious medical research.68.72.84.142 23:23, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
Well, I'm responsible for much of the original content of this article, and also for the statements about anxiety. The fact that BFS is often associated with anxiety is, I gather, a "public secret" among neurologists -- they see it frequently and recognize it but no one talks about it. But a high degree of health anxiety, and, oddly, anxiety specifically about ALS, is almost diagnostic of BFS. You only need to participate in some of the forums frequented by BFS people to appreciate this.
I speculate that there is a chemical reason for this (though I can't quite explain the peculiar fixation on ALS): I presume that anxiety causes the brain to release cholinergic chemicals (similar to organophosphate toxins) in order to "prepare" the body for action. Among other things this lowers the action threshold of the muscles and makes them more apt to twitch. But, of course, modern anxiety is rarely followed by a need for action, and the physical effects of the chemicals (twitching, increased heart rate, etc) simply increase the sense of anxiety. drh 23:31, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
Most importantly there are insufficient references to recent literature (2000-2007) where half a dozen of so respected medical researchers are exploring an autoimmune basis. I also recommend reducing the anxiety connection. Various signs and symptoms cause anxiety in those prone to anxiety, who then hang out on internet forums and exhibit hypochondriacal behavior, such as requiring constant assurance that they don't have ALS or MS. All this is typical for afflictions that are mysterious and mimic lethal diseases, but not specific to BFS. Me personally, I have BFS. I had anxiety for about four weeks: the interval between my first internet symptom search and my reassuring neuro exam. No anxiety since. Anyway, someone, preferably a medical type, needs to get the references to autoimmune research in there. 74.136.203.63 03:54, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Neurologist
This article is fine minus the indications about ascertainment bias. That sounds like a pissed off neurologist, no doubt. A lot of angry patients on here. I understand your frustration with the amount of testing you went through for this waste diagnosis.
I believe this article isn't nearly succinct enough. 71.195.4.244 (talk) 23:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)JD
