Fibromyalgia is a medical condition that often causes weakness and fatigue along with the common symptom of pain. Fibromyalgia is closely related to chronic fatigue syndrome as well. So what is the connection between these conditions and age? Where is it I am going with this? Well, studies show that age may play a factor in Fibromyalgia.



So why is this? Well, there is a big thing called sleep. Sleep is often disturbed in people with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There are different stages of sleep that we cycle through each night. The deepest cycle of sleep is when the body heals itself from the damage and wear and tear from the day. When sleep is disrupted or disturbed, this cycle is often not reached. This, in turn, means the healing is not done and the body's ability to recover from the day's work is thwarted. So, people with Fibromyalgia may experience a mental fog, known as fibro fog, and have fatigue, pain in muscles and tissues, etc.

So let's make the age connection. It is common knowledge that 90% of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women. It is also pretty well known that most people are diagnosed with fibromyalgia between the ages of 20 and 50. However, recent studies show there is a shift in these numbers. Many more people are being diagnosed after the age of 50 now and the numbers continue to rise.

It seems as though the significance of age in patients is rather debatable. Some in the medical community think it is significant and others do not. The reason that some people are diagnosed with it later in life could be due to the fact that a lot in the medical community don't think of Fibromyalgia as a real condition. It could be that the body just wears down considerably more as we age and pain progresses. It may also be the fact that it takes time to rule out all other diseases before coming to a fibromyalgia diagnosis.

Sleep cycles change as we age and so does disease. There is a definite suggestion that age may play a factor in fibromyalgia. It is figuring out the significance of what this means to fibromyalgia and treatment in future years that matters. One thing from the studies that we are certain is that as we age our body goes through important changes that may provide us some links and answers to this debilitating condition.

Copyright (c) 2007 Hailey Harris