Low Blood Pressure

Hypotension is the formal medical term for low blood pressure, and syncope is the term for fainting. Neurally mediated hypotension (NMH) occurs when there is an abnormal reflex interaction between the heart and the brain, both of which usually are structurally normal. NMH is also known by the following names: the fainting reflex, neurocardiogenic syncope, vasodepressor syncope, the vaso-vagal reflex, and autonomic dysfunction.

Low blood pressure (neurally mediated hypotension) is common in many fibromyalgia patients. Dr. Peter Rowe at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine first discovered the connection between low blood pressure and CFIDS. His paper titled, The Relationship Between Neurally Mediated Hypotension and the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was published in the September 1995 issue of JAMA. Dr. Rowe has replicated his tilt table test in fibromyalgia patients with the same results. He is currently completing a three-year scientific study on the connection between NMH, CFIDS and FMS.

The following links will take you to several abstracts related to this subject:

Low Blood Pressure Abstracts Abstract I The Relationship Between Neurally Mediated Hypotension and the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Dr. Peter Rowe Abstract II Provocation of Hypotension and Pain During Upright Tilt Table Testing in Adults with Fibromyalgia - Dr. Peter Rowe Abstract III Neurally Mediated Hypotension and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Dr. Peter Rowe Abstract IV Neurally Mediated Hypotension: Its surgical evaluation, management and early outcome as part of the Fibromyalgia—Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Dr. Michael J. Rosner