Fibromyalgia

The rheumatology month in review features studies exploring ways to enhance care, an increased risk of adverse COVID-19 outcomes, and pegloticase plus methotrexate co-therapy for gout treatment.

Experts discuss treatment options for fibromyalgia (FM) and how they utilize integrative care with patients.

Experts discuss which providers often diagnose fibromyalgia (FM) and how the burden of care has changed in recent years.

Experts discuss common comorbidities for patients with fibromyalgia (FM).

Experts offer clinical experience on why fibromyalgia (FM) is challenging to diagnose and how they rule out other chronic pain disorders.

Experts offer their clinical advice on what factors, outside of clinical therapies, may mitigate symptoms of fibromyalgia (FM).

Experts discuss the common characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) and related symptoms.

An increased hazard ratio was observed for all-cause mortality, including a standardized mortality ratio for accidents and an increased risk for mortality from infections and suicide.

Experts discuss known risk factors of fibromyalgia (FM).

Experts discuss the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia (FM) and how it relates to other chronic pain diseases.

The rheumatology month in review features studies reporting increased depression rates among patients with autoimmune disease, interventions designed to decrease chronic pain symptoms in fibromyalgia, and highlights from EULAR 2023.

Experts offer their clinical experience on why fibromyalgia (FM) is often misunderstood by patients and practitioners.

Wendy Wright, DNP, Kostas Botsoglou, MD, Daniel Clauw, MD, and Benjamin Natelson, MD, present an overview of symptoms and characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM).

Of the randomized controlled trials identified, only 41% involved patients with depression.

Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia was present in 31% of patients, compared with 4% of controls.

The predominant themes observed were the presence of a specific trigger (stressful event) for fibromyalgia symptoms, fulfilling expected gender roles, a lack of support from family members, and abuse.

Themes regarding improvement experience, developing strategies for better health, and contextual factors supporting improvement were reported during the interview analysis.

Pain intensity, quality of life, and depression were significantly improved in a cohort of patients with fibromyalgia treated with THC.

The yoga-based, mind-body intervention was effective for most patients with chronic pain, with the largest effects demonstrated in areas of pain self-efficacy, pain intensity, quality of life, and most severe perceived pain.

The rheumatology month in review highlights a program developed by Janssen to support health equity, the increased risks pregnant women with rheumatic diseases face, and trends in fibromyalgia management.

Patients in the land- and water-based exercise intervention groups demonstrated greater improvements in fatigue when compared with controls.

A modification of DAS28 was shown to more accurately represent disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concomitant fibromyalgia.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and high disease activity were more likely to be diagnosed with depression and fibromyalgia when compared with those in remission.

A fibromyalgia diagnosis was significantly associated with GERD, IBS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and celiac disease.

Patients with fibromyalgia reported significantly less recreational, transportation-related, and total physical activity levels when compared with controls.