TORONTO – Drivers who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia appear to have an elevated risk of being involved in motor vehicle crashes, even years after their initial diagnosis, research suggests.
An article in the Toronto Sun described how a study in the July issue of the Journal of Rheumatology found individuals with fibromyalgia had more than twice the risk of being in a serious automobile accident that sent them to a hospital emergency room, compared with the driving population as a whole.
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome that affects at least 400,000 Canadians, but the numbers may be much higher. The condition, which disrupts nerve function, causes fluctuating symptoms, such as muscle pain, fatigue, insomnia, and joint stiffness.
