People with fibromyalgia might actually have one weird advantage: they're less likely to have high blood pressure than the rest of us.
April 13, 2026
Original Paper
Fibromyalgia and Arterial Hypertension in a Population-Based Matched Cohort Study
SSRN · 6555992
The Takeaway
Doctors usually expect chronic pain and stress to drive blood pressure up, but this study found the exact opposite. It suggests that the condition has a unique, counterintuitive effect on the body's cardiovascular system.
From the abstract
Objective:,Fibromyalgia is often linked to adverse metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors. We investigated the relationship between fibromyalgia, blood pressure, and the prevalence of hypertension in a large, population-based matched-cohort.,Methods:,We conducted a retrospective, population-based matched-cohort study using electronic health record data from Leumit Health Services in Israel. Adults with fibromyalgia were matched to controls without fibromyalgia based on age, sex, and ethnicity