Years of physical suffering left Rina Green unable to work. Now, thanks to a groundbreaking therapy being developed at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam), her life has turned around.
About three years ago, Rina Green, a 38-year-old mother from Hadera, began experiencing unexplained pain. “I had a strange feeling in the back of my neck, followed by palpitations, hot flashes, nausea, weight loss, and brain fog — all my test results came back inconclusive,” she explains.
Green’s condition worsened, and pain in her leg disrupted her sleep. Always tired and struggling to concentrate, she began relying on a cane and wheelchair to get around. Neither painkillers nor medical cannabis provided relief.
A year ago, Green was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a syndrome affecting 2% to 4% of the population, primarily women. Her symptoms were typical: chronic pain, extreme fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. “People don’t understand fibromyalgia—it’s a serious but often invisible condition,” she says.
Dr. Amir Minerbi, director of the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam, is conducting a study in collaboration with partners from McGill University in Canada to provide new insights into the condition. “Fibromyalgia is classified as a syndrome since we don’t know its cause and current treatments have limited effectiveness,” he explains.
Green believes her fibromyalgia stems from repressed memories related to childhood trauma and growing up in an abusive home. However, all pain eventually erupts; in her case it eventually manifested physically. After learning about Minerbi’s research, Green applied to participate in the study and was accepted.
Results from the study indicate a direct link between the composition of gut microbiomes and the development of fibromyalgia, highlighting how the microbiome can improve a patient’s health. Based on these findings, Rambam’s Microbiome Center has developed an innovative therapy that delivers gut microbiomes from a healthy individual to the patient through an ingestible capsule.
In the first phase of the study, all participants received antibiotics to neutralize the composition of their gut bacteria; after that, half the patients ingested a capsule containing healthy microbiomes. The other half – the study’s control group—were given a placebo. Green was a member of this latter group.
She reports that the antibiotics helped and her condition improved. However, after beginning the treatment phase of the study her pain returned with greater intensity, yet she did not give up. In fact, Green was happy to learn that she had been a member of the control group—meaning she would have another chance at better health.
“The brain interprets the bacteria-produced metabolites that influence pain sensation and response. Everyday stimuli are interpreted as pain —like the pressure of a chair on the buttocks,” explains Minerbi. “We found that the human gut microbiome can trigger an autoimmune response—the immune system attacks certain cells around the spinal cord and brain associated with pain.”
After the study concluded in November 2024, Green was given her second chance and was treated with the healthy microbiome capsules. “In a very short time, my health improved. I woke up feeling well, was pain-free, and no longer needed my cane or wheelchair,” she shares excitedly. She and her daughter wasted no time, they went shopping, did Pilates, and played volleyball in the sea. Green says her life has been transformed: “I found a new job and am considering becoming a veterinary nurse. The treatment saved me.”
“Eleven of the fifteen study participants reported dramatic improvements surpassing the effects of other treatments that had previously failed to help. Now we are researching a much larger group—80 women,” reports Minerbi. ”This treatment doesn’t suit everyone; each patient responds differently, but there is light at the end of this dark tunnel.”
Based on a Hebrew article that first appeared on the Mako website.
