Risk factors for self-reported fibromyalgia: allergies, smoking, difficult pregnancy
Six pages on PainSci cite Choi 2010: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. The Complete Guide to Low Back Pain 3. The Complete Guide to Chronic Tension Headaches 4. The Complete Guide to Neck Pain & Cricks 5. Smoking and Chronic Pain 6. Vulnerability to Chronic Pain
PainSci commentary on Choi 2010: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.
Over 3000 women who took comprehensive lifestyle and medical history questionnaires in 1976. A quarter century later, 136 of them reported a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Their medical history was examined in more detail to look for correlations between fibromyalgia and diseases, lifestyle factors, and health behaviors. “Smoking as well as prevalent allergies, and a history of hyperemesis gravidarum [morning sickness, but much worse], seem to predict development of FM in women during 25 years of follow-up.” No correlation was found with the number of surgeries, ulcers, or medication usage.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between incident self-reported fibromyalgia (FM) and prior somatic diseases, lifestyle factors, and health behaviors among 3,136 women who participated in 2 cohort studies 25 to 26 years apart (the Adventist Health Study 1 and 2). The women completed a comprehensive lifestyle and medical history questionnaire at baseline in 1976. Information on new diagnosis of doctor-told FM was obtained at the second survey in 2002. A total of 136 women reported a diagnosis of FM during 25 years of follow-up, giving a period incidence of 43/1,000 or 1.72/1000 per year. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, a significant, dose-response association was found with number of allergies with OR of 1.61 (95% CI: .92-2.83) and 3.99 (95% CI: 2.31-6.88), (P[trend] < .0001), respectively, for 1 and 2 or more allergies versus none. A history of hyperemesis gravidarum was also associated with FM with OR of 1.32 (95% CI: .75-2.32) and 1.73 (95% CI: .99-3.03), (P[trend] < .05), respectively, for some or all pregnancies versus none. A positive association with smoking was also found with OR of 2.37 (95% CI: 1.33-4.23) for ever smokers versus never smokers. No significant association was found with number of surgeries, history of peptic ulcer, or taking medications to control various symptoms.
PERSPECTIVE: Smoking as well as prevalent allergies, and a history of hyperemesis gravidarum, seem to predict development of FM in women during 25 years of follow-up. This information may help in identifying persons at high risk of developing FM and thus initiate effective prevention strategies.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.