Does Smoking Make Fibromyalgia Symptoms Worse?

Smoking is blamed for a multitude of health problems these days, but what about fibromyalgia? Can smoking make the symptoms of fibromyalgia worse? The answer is yes, according to a new Korean study.

The research included 336 patients with fibromyalgia, enrolled in the study from 10 different medical centers who were participants in the (Korean) national fibromyalgia study. Out of the total of 336 patients, 9.8% (n=33) were smokers. Participants were assessed for:

• Number of tender points
• General health
• Depression
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
• Syncope
• Fatigue
• Family/social support

Results of the study showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the smokers and non-smokers in terms of number of tender points and depression in particular. The researchers concluded that smoking may influence pain and depression in people with fibromyalgia, although they were quick to point out that more research was needed in this area. They did not reach any consensus as to why smokers were affected more than non-smokers.

Smoking is known to influence health negatively in a number of ways, including raising the risk for heart disease, lung disease, stroke and certain cancers. What is it about smoking that may cause smokers to be more vulnerable to depression? Researchers were unable to pinpoint a reason in this study, but it raises an important point- do people smoke because they are depressed, or are they depressed because they smoke? And how is pain (or the perception of pain) altered when we smoke? Although this particular study was not able to answer these questions, perhaps researchers will expand on this area of study.

If you have fibromyalgia and you smoke, it may be worthwhile to quit if there is a chance that your symptoms will subside somewhat. Even if your fibromyalgia symptoms don’t improve, you will be doing your body a favor!

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20851023