As blogged before, overweight and obese patients frequently present with fibromyalgia, characterized by chronic pain, fatigue and depressed mood.
A paper by Akiko Okifuji from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, just published in the Journal of Pain, examines the relationship between fibromyalgia and obesity in pain, function, mood, and sleep.
The study examines the impact of obesity on hyperalgesia, symptoms, physical abilities, and sleep in 215 fibromyalgia patients, who also underwent tender point examination, physical performance testing, and 7-day home sleep assessment.
Almost 50% of participants were obese and an additional 30% were overweight.
Obesity was positively related to greater tender point sensitivity, reduced physical strength and lower-body flexibility, shorter sleep duration, and greater restlessness during sleep.
The results confirmed that obesity is a prevalent comorbidity of fibromyalgia and the authors suggest that weight management may need to be incorporated into treatments.
In the paper, Okifuji and colleagues also discuss several potential mechanisms linking obesity to fibromyalgia including alterations in the endogenous opioid system, the endocrine system, and systemic inflammation, whereby adipose-tissue derived cytokines may enhance central sensitization.
Clinicians should be aware of the relationship between excess weight and fibromyalgia, which can often pose an important contributor to weight gain and a major barrier to weight management.
AMS
Edmonton, Alberta
Okifuji A, Donaldson GW, Barck L, & Fine PG (2010). Relationship Between Fibromyalgia and Obesity in Pain, Function, Mood, and Sleep. The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society PMID: 20542742
In The News
June 16th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Once again, I see a clear confusion of association with causation. It seems more reasonable to me that people with more severe fibromyalgia are much less likely to be moving and exercising, hence, are much more likely to be obese than people with less severe fibromyalgia. The ONLY thing shown in this “study” is association.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:23 am
SLCCOM: This is exactly why doing intervention studies to show that weight loss improves the symptoms of FMS are so important
June 21st, 2010 at 2:57 pm
While this is a very interesting corralation there seems to be very little that can be done about it. Most persons I know with this afliction are not able to think wieght management when the pain is high. Some even have trouble thinking when the pain is very high–now only knowing 4 persons with this syndrome does not make me a scientis but it should be noted as impportant.
January 29th, 2011 at 4:17 am
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