THE FACTS
No one really knows precisely what causes the
debilitating fatigue and muscle pain of fibromyalgia. But some people
who have the disorder say they know what can make it worse: changes in
the weather.
Cold, damp days and drops in barometric
pressure are widely associated with flare-ups in symptoms of the
condition, which affects mostly women. In one study
by the National Fibromyalgia Association, people with the condition
ranked weather changes as one of the leading aggravating influences on
pain and stiffness.
Unlike the reported connection between arthritis and changes in temperature and pressure – which has mostly been debunked
– the belief that fibromyalgia symptoms fluctuate with the weather has
not been the subject of thorough research. The few studies that have investigated it have mostly found little evidence of a link.
In the latest report, published this month
in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, Dutch researchers
followed 333 middle-aged women who had fibromyalgia, looking for
relationships between environmental conditions and their levels of pain
and fatigue. Over the course of a month, the researchers monitored
humidity levels, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, temperature and
sunshine duration, using data from a meteorological institute.
In some cases, they did find that weather
variables had “significant but small” effects on pain and fatigue. But
for the most part, they concluded, there was “more evidence against than
in support of a uniform influence of weather on daily pain and
fatigue.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
Most studies have not found much evidence of a link between fibromyalgia symptoms and weather patterns.
However those of us who have it may disagree.
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