- Joint stiffness
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Muscle pain
Individuals living with fibromyalgia know just how difficult that can be. The chronic pain those who have the condition live with can have an impact on every area of a person’s life including, relationships, emotional health, concentration and the ability to provide care to one’s family and home. It can also impact one’s career as well, causing them to need to take a short period of time away from work. In more serious situations, one’s long-term career plans could be impacted as well.
A recent study uncovered another possible side effect. The study determined that individuals who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia who get in their vehicle to drive, could be at a higher risk of being a part of a motor vehicle accident. Specifically, per year, the risk of a crash involving someone with fibromyalgia occurring is five in 1,000. Where the overall population is concerned, the number is two per 1,000 per year.
The results of the study, which was led by a senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, were published earlier this summer in the Journal of Rheumatology. The study focused on the medical records of a total of 137,631 adults in Ontario who had fibromyalgia. The records covered a five year period beginning in April 2006.
Though the study found a higher rate of crashes when people with fibromyalgia were driving, it did not definitively determine that those accidents were due to the driver having the condition. Regardless of the study’s findings, if negligence plays a role in a crash occurring, a lawsuit could be appropriate.