Why are women more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia?

Why are women more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia?

On average, the metabolic rates of women and their 24-hour energy expenditure are lower than those of men.

A woman’s metabolic rate is even lower when she has inadequate thyroid hormone regulation of cell function due to hypothyroidism or resistance to thyroid hormone. When her metabolic rate declines below a critical threshold, she will develop symptoms and signs of hypometabolism. The particular symptoms and signs that develop will depend on the tissue most affected by the hypometabolism.

The lower metabolic rate of women is caused partly by lower androgen activity in their bodies. Administering male sex hormone increases the metabolic rate by 10%-15%. In contrast, administering female sex hormones, such as progesterone, raises the metabolic rate only a small and insignificant amount.

Compared to men, women generally have more body fat and less lean muscle mass. Conclusions have been made that because fat is less metabolically active than muscle, the higher fat content of women accounts for their lower resting metabolic rate.

Whatever the mechanisms of women’s lower metabolic rate, most women do have lower metabolic rates than men. It is highly probable that women’s lower metabolic rates predispose them to develop syndromes of hypometabolism. Fibromyalgia is one of those syndromes.