It's not surprising that fibromyalgia might be a risk factor for depression - most chronic illnesses are. The surprising thing is that getting depression increases your risk of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia later on. That suggests the two disorders share some common pathophysiological pathways. The same thing can be said for osteoarthritis, however and probably many pain conditions. People with any pain condition are probably at increased risk of developing fibromyalgia at some point.
The question is - what do fibromyalgia, depression and other pain conditions such as arthritis have in common? Inflammation is one possibility and there are likely others.
PERSPECTIVE:
Our study supported a bidirectional temporal association between depression and FMS that each disease occurring first may increase the risk of the other subsequently. This result may imply a shared pathophysiology between FMS and depression, but it needs the further investigation.
The question is - what do fibromyalgia, depression and other pain conditions such as arthritis have in common? Inflammation is one possibility and there are likely others.
J Pain. 2015 Jun 24. pii: S1526-5900(15)00708-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2015.06.004. [Epub ahead of print]Bidirectional association between depression and fibromyalgia syndrome: A nationwide longitudinal study.Chang MH1, Hsu JW2, Huang KL2, Su TP2, Bai YM2, Li CT2, Yang AC2, Chang WH1, Chen TJ3, Tsai SJ2, Chen MH4.
Abstract
Several cross-sectional studies have reported a common comorbidity between depression and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). However, a bidirectional temporal association between these two distinct diseases has rarely been investigated. Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 25,969 patients with FMS and without any psychiatric disorder and 17,142 patients with depression and without FMS between 2000 and 2008 were enrolled and separately compared with age- and sex-matched (1:4) control groups.
Patients with FMS who developed a new-onset depression and those with depression who developed a new-onset FMS were identified during the follow-up (to the end of 2011). The conditional Cox regression analyses, after adjustment for demographic data and medical comorbidities, showed that the patients with FMS were associated with an increased risk (hazard ratio
= 7.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.77-8.22) of subsequent depression, and that those with depression were associated with an increased risk (HR = 6.28, 95% CI = 5.67-6.96) of subsequent FMS.
Our results supported a bidirectional temporal association between depression and FMS. Each disease occurring first may increase the risk of the other subsequently. Further study may be necessary to determine the underlying mechanism between depression and FMS, and to clarify whether a prompt intervention for depression or FMS may decrease the risk of the other later in life.
PERSPECTIVE:
Our study supported a bidirectional temporal association between depression and FMS that each disease occurring first may increase the risk of the other subsequently. This result may imply a shared pathophysiology between FMS and depression, but it needs the further investigation.