Fibromyalgia and depression: whichever comes first may increase risk of the other

Fibromyalgia and depression appear to be intricately linked as a new large study found that when either occurs, the other is more likely to follow. Three groups of people from a large database in Taiwan were involved in the study:
• 25,969 people with fibromyalgia and without any psychiatric disorder;
• 17,142 people with depression and without fibromyalgia;
• Healthy age- and gender-matched.
The experts identified people with new depression and others with depression who then developed fibromyalgia. Analysis of the data showed that people with fibromyalgia were associated with an increased risk of subsequent depression, and that those with depression were associated with an increased risk of subsequent fibromyalgia.
“Each disease occurring first may increase the risk of the other subsequently,” the team says. “This result may imply a shared pathophysiology between fibromyalgia and depression. Further study may be necessary to determine the underlying mechanism between depression and fibromyalgia, and to clarify whether a prompt intervention for depression or fibromyalgia may decrease the risk of the other later in life.”

Click here to read the original research.

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Image credit: Alyssa L. Miller