A common characteristic that most fibromyalgia sufferers present is a diffuse pain that affects a large part of the body.
This disconcerting symptom is usually accompanied by morning joint stiffness, paresthesias in the hands and feet, ie tingling and numbness, sleep disturbances and above all a sensation of anxiety and fatigue that accompanies them throughout the day.
This fatigue contributes to the fibromyalgia have a poor tolerance to the effort affecting up to 90% of patients. That is why a study carried out by a team from the University of Granada,
and published in January 2011 in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, analyzed the resistance that these patients present in the hand, to be able to use it as a complementary tool in the evaluation of the severity of fibromyalgia in women.
The objective was to determine the capacity of the strength test in the hand, when discriminating between the presence and absence of fibromyalgia and the severity of it in 81 women with the disease and 44 healthy women.
They measured the resistance of the force in the hand with a test of maximum isometric strength, with the help of a hand dynamometer. The women were classified according to the score obtained in: Moderate fibromyalgia (<70) and Severe fibromyalgia (70 or more). The results they observed were:
The threshold strength resistance in the hand that best discriminates between the presence and absence of fibromyalgia was 23.1 kg.
The threshold that best discriminates between severe and moderate fibromyalgia was 16.9 kg.
A resistance of hand strength of 23.1 kg or less was associated with having a 33.8 times higher probability of suffering from fibromyalgia after delimiting age.
In the fibromyalgia group, a hand force strength of 16.9 kg or less was associated with a 5.3 times higher probability of suffering from severe fibromyalgia.
The conclusions presented by these researchers are: that the resistance of the force in the hand is reduced in women with fibromyalgia, as well as in those with severe fibromyalgia with respect to their partners with moderate fibromyalgia. They also suggest that those women who do not comply with these proposed standards can guide the doctor to make a good diagnosis,
since it would be used as a useful and informative tool. Have you noticed that you have less resistance and strength in the hands than your friends / family? In what aspects of everyday life is a handicap?
We hope you share your impressions with us, which we will send to our members of the patients.
