Can you really die because of fibromyalgia?
“Arthritis and Rheumatism” a study published last year found disturbing trends in a cohort of fibromyalgia patients that may change the health care community’s approach to fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is not a disease but a chronic pain syndrome and it has been accepted by many in the medical association. Certainly, it is not killing anyone. However, there have been intermittent reports in the literature of increased fatality due to cardiovascular disease and suicide.
The main results of the study on ‘’Arthritis and Rheumatism’’ reveal that 1,296 Danish female patients were at an increased risk of death due to suicide, liver disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Previous studies have found increased rates of depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue, and other psychiatric disorders with fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia patients commit suicide 10 times more than the general population. But the disturbing thing is that fibromyalgia patients who commit suicide, none of them had a medical history of depression or any other type of psychiatric illness at the time of diagnosis.
In Denmark, there is a relative lack of the scar often surrounding suicide clasped with the fact that autopsies are required when a suicide defects, which would seem to assure fairly accurate estimates of the suicide rate. Not only in Denmark, no matter what the country is, there is also a trend toward underreporting when it comes to suicide.
A diagnosis of chronic pain is associated with an elevated death rate due to a variety of external causes. It is very well a common case that a death that sounds to be an accidental case, is in reality a suicide (for example, a fall or a single-vehicle accident). It has been found that there is some relation between higher suicide risk with higher accidental death in patients with fibromyalgia.
Alcohol consumption is very vulnerable to patients suffering from fibromyalgia as it enhances the higher risks of liver disease which ultimately leads to death. According to WHO World Health Organization, Denmark has the highest rate of alcohol consumption. In addition to alcohol consumption, fibromyalgia-like pain is often reported by patients with hepatitis C.
Many fibromyalgia patients are overweight, if not obese and this becomes the reason for cerebrovascular disease in them. On average, 19% of the fibromyalgia patients were found to be obese and 54% were current smokers and half of them are heavy smokers. Healthy subjects flaunted a better cardiovascular response to physical and emotional stress. Indubitably physical inactivity due to pain may contribute to atherosclerosis.
Whenever a fibromyalgia patient presents for an assessment, Physicians need to scout risk factors for suicide, liver disease, and cerebrovascular disease. It is a little more work, but more than chronic pain will likely need to be addressed by the patient and jobholder.
Source: medhelp.org
I live in constant pain. As so many of us, most of us really can’t get proper pain medicine. With pain medicine our lives can be quite good. No wonder people commit suicide. But you didn’t address the medicines we are given. Most cause suicidal thoughts if not actions. I know this because that’s what I experienced. Not my lousy life, not 24/7 pain. The medicine approved by the FDA.
Since it seems drug abusers rule the USA now because they want to get high, more of us will die. Think that over.
Fibromyalgia patients like me really need help. It is very cruel that because a group of people want to abuse the painkillers we, the Fibromyalgia patient, The Multiple Sclerosis patients, the Lupus patients just to mention few, all have to suffer and have a so miserable life living with severe and unbearable pain every day of our lives. That is why so many Fibro patients commit suicide!
Very interesting, but I don’t touch alcohol, I have enough with pain killers, that don’t work.
2 things. 1.) studies have shown that long term use of narcotic painkillers is not therapeutic and that they should only be used in times of extreme flare ups. 2.) I have found that with the right combination of marijuana strains and a little caffeine I am more than able to live a happy full life. I am 33 a full time college student with a husband and stuff to do on a daily basis even my days off aren’t days off because of school. I read an article on this website the other day that suggests that fibromyalgia is actually a cannabis system deficiency and yes I have previously done my research on the endocannabinoid system.