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Women at Higher Risk for Chronic Pain Conditions
Women appear to be at a higher risk for chronic pain conditions and that may be due to genetic differences between men and women, a study found.
Genetics and Chronic Pain Conditions
For this study, researchers looked for genetic variants associated with chronic pain in 209,093 women and 178,556 men and compared the results.
In women, 31 genes are associated with chronic pain and all but one are active in the dorsal root ganglion, a cluster of nerve cells in the spinal cord that transmit pain signals from the body to the brain, researchers said.
In men, 37 genes are associated with chronic pain, and all of them are active in the dorsal root ganglion, the researchers said.
That the sexes each have 30 or more different genes at the base of the spinal cord involved in chronic pain, supports the researchers’ previous work which showed that chronic pain originates to a large extent in the brain and less so at the sites where people may be experiencing pain, they said.
In the study, the genetic differences seen were subtle, but it may be that small differences at the cellular and gene expression level are also involved in differences in male versus female chronic pain development.
At the gene level, distinct genes were associated with chronic pain depending on sex, and there was evidence many were also potentially androgen and estrogen-regulated (the male and female sex hormones).
The study was published on April 8 by PLOS Genetics.
Chronic Pain Symptoms
Common chronic pain complaints include:
- Arthritis
- Headache
- Low back pain
- Neurogenic pain (pain resulting from damage to peripheral nerves or to the central nervous system itself)
- Psychogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system)
Such chronic pain conditions can include:
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Endometriosis
- Fibromyalgia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
It is not known whether the disorders share a common cause.
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This entry was posted on April 21st, 2021 at 01:14:00 pm by BlogMe@iaatpa.net (IAA) and is filed under Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain Syndrome.