Introduction
Among the effects of long Covid, i.e. that set of symptoms that occur after being infected and healed from virus, with or without hospitalization, there is fibromyalgia three months to one year after acute infection, with a higher prevalence of fibromyalgia among convalescents than in the general population.
Among the risks and complications of ‘long Covid’, therefore, there would also be fibromyalgia, a term that defines the rheumatological syndrome which is mainly characterized by musculoskeletal pain spread throughout the body, especially the limbs and back, and by a series of related and common symptoms such as, for example: chronic fatigue, sleep disturbances, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract or alterations of the cognitive sphere. In particular, according to an Italian research, the risk would be greater in the event of long Covid in male and obese subjects. On the contrary, in general, fibromyalgia mainly affects women.
FibroCovid in summary
- It occurs mainly in male and obese subjects
- Symptoms post Covid persistent even for six months after the infection
- Multiple symptoms at the same time: musculoskeletal pain throughout the body, chronic fatigue, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal disorders or cognitive impairment.
Fibromyalgia: cos’é?
Fibromyalgia can be defined “sindrome fibromialgica“, as the different signs symptoms may occur simultaneously. The presence of this set of disorders makes the diagnosis clearer, although not all patients with fibromyalgia have the entire set of symptoms. Fibromyalgia is also associated with other related disorders, including:
The cause of fibromyalgia is not known. A set of biochemical, genetic, neurochemical, environmental, hormonalpsychological factors contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease which therefore appears to be the consequence of a multifactorial interaction.
Women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia than men, with an incidence ratio of approximately 9:1 (F:M).
Often, due to the similarities in the onset of the symptoms of the pathology that unites it to an articular disease, fibromyalgia is confused witharthritis, but unlike the latter, fibromyalgia does not cause a degenerative condition as in the case of rheumatoid arthritisil systemic lupus erythematosus and the polymyositis.
The disease affects approximately 1.5-2 million Italians and the most affected age group extends from 25 to 55 years.
Long Covid: what are the symptoms
Long Covid is that post-acute syndrome from Covid-19characterized by new symptoms that occur consistently for at least four weeks. Among them, the most common are: weakness, fatigue, arthralgia, myalgia, cognitive decline, difficulty sleeping, depression and anxiety, diarrhea, nausea, chest or abdominal pain; confusional state.
Among the risk factors for the persistence and seriousness of the symptoms there are clinical conditions such as: hypertension, obesity, mental disorders. In the most severe forms of COVID, long Covid effects are observed affecting multiple organs or autoimmune clinical conditions, with symptoms that can persist for months after recovery from the infection. Multi-organ damaging effects can affect heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, and brain function.
Fibromyalgia post Covid: the Italian studio
A study carried out by a group of researchers from the Institute orthopedic surgeon Rizzoli of Bologna (with the collaboration of the rheumatology centers of the University of L’Aquila, Campus Biomedico University of Rome, University of Turin), shed light on the consequences of the ‘FibroCovid’i.e. the diagnosis of fibromyalgia as consequence of the long Covid. The research was recently published in the journal of the scientific society that brings together rheumatologists from all over Europe (RMD Open: Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases).
The study was conducted on a sample of over 600 people, who presented long-term symptoms related to symptomatic Covid-19 infection, i.e. what is defined as long-Covid or post-Covid-19 syndrome. The most interesting result was to ascertain that about the 30% of patients experienced symptoms compatible with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia even six months and more after the recovery of the acute Covid-19 infection.
The researchers also examined the possible causes related to this symptom post Covid-19. Among the main risk factors for developing the so-called FibroCovid, there are the male (as opposed to the female population commonly affected by fibromyalgia) and theobesityknown predisposing factor for fibromyalgia.
Treatments and cures
To date, there is no specific cure for the treatment of fibromyalgia, but there are several treatment options that can control and relieve symptoms. The treatment takes place with the intake of drugs such as antidepressants e painkillers, physical exercise e relaxation techniques (cognitive behavioral therapy).