50 Top 10 Lists of 2007

Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs

#7. Relief from Fibromyalgia: Lyrica

People who suffer from the chronic fatigue, muscle pain, and stiffness of fibromyalgia finally have a drug to call their own. This year the FDA approved the antiseizure drug Lyrica (pregabalin), made by Pfizer, as a treatment for fibromyalgia. The news was a long time coming for the 3 to 6 million Americans, most of them women, who suffer from the frustratingly elusive and complex condition; the pain of fibromyalgia is unique and, therefore, unresponsive to conventional painkillers. In studies, Lyrica not only soothed the aches of fibromyalgia but also significantly improved patients' quality of life. Lyrica already had the FDA's okay as a treatment for epilepsy, discomfort from shingles, and neuropathy, or nerve pain, often caused by diabetes.

Connect to this TIME Story