<p>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.<br /><br /></p>.<p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Over the course of a month, the researchers monitored humidity levels, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, temperature and sunshine duration, using data from a meteorological institute.<br /><br />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.”<br /><br />THE BOTTOM LINE<br /><br />Most studies have not found much evidence of a link between fibromyalgia symptoms and weather patterns.<br /></p>
<p>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.<br /><br /></p>.<p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Over the course of a month, the researchers monitored humidity levels, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, temperature and sunshine duration, using data from a meteorological institute.<br /><br />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.”<br /><br />THE BOTTOM LINE<br /><br />Most studies have not found much evidence of a link between fibromyalgia symptoms and weather patterns.<br /></p>
