Women’s chronic pain more complex
New research from the University of Adelaide has found that chronic pain in women is more complex and harder to treat than chronic pain in men.
The work, presented recently at the Faculty of Pain Medicine spring meeting in Byron Bay, organised by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), suggested that men and women should be prescribed medications and treated for pain differently according to their gender.
Study leader Dr Mark Hutchinson from the University's School of Medical Sciences says laboratory studies have shown for the first time that the brain's immune cells, known as glial cells, contribute to differences in pain between the sexes.
“There are fundamental differences in the experience of pain between females and males,” says Dr Hutchinson.
The research shows brain mechanisms at work are proving chronic pain in women is more complex and difficult to treat than in men, despite the similarity of the initial cause of pain.
“Female and male structures in the brain are different but that doesn't explain women's higher rate of pain. There are multiple different pain systems in females and males,” he says.
Dr Hutchison hopes the research will lead to the development of ‘sex targeted’ drugs that will provide more effective pain relief.
Pain is regarded as chronic when it does not go away and is experienced by a patient on most days of the week for at least three months.
The NSW department of health reveals a slightly higher proportion of females report having chronic pain than males do.
Prevalence tends to be higher in older individuals. At least one in four women aged 50 years or over report having chronic pain.
This research was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
