Discover the relationship between abdominal fat and chronic pain!

According to RCO News Agency, In a first-of-its-kind study, excess belly fat has been linked to chronic pain, but the good news is that losing weight and reducing waist size can help relieve inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions.

Researchers from the University of Tasmania, the University of Western Australia and Monash University looked at UK Biobank data from 32,409 people who had MRI scans of their abdomens to detect fat deposits around the organs (visceral adipose tissue) and just under the skin. (subcutaneous fat tissue) to evaluate.

At the time of the scans, these patients were asked about pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, or throughout the body that had been present for three months or longer.

In this group of 638 patients, two years after the initial scan, the scan and pain analysis were repeated.

What the researchers found was that there is a relationship between this abdominal fat and the prevalence of chronic pain, and they used a ratio that was a combination of visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and pain (VAT to SAT ratio).

Women, who made up 51% of participants, had more widespread chronic pain with abdominal fat, and this chronic pain was doubled when visceral fat was increased and 60% greater when subcutaneous fat was increased.

In men, the increase in chronic pain was accompanied by a 34% increase in visceral fat, a 39% increase in subcutaneous fat, and a 13% increase in the ratio of the two.

Abdominal adipose tissue is associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, the researchers noted, suggesting that excessive and misplaced fat deposits may be involved in multilocal and extensive chronic musculoskeletal pain. Also, the stronger effects detected in women than in men may reflect sex differences in fat distribution and hormones.

While a small, observational study with a mean age of 55 years has shown these results, a larger, longer-term study is needed to establish a firm link between abdominal fat and chronic pain.

However, this is the first time that chronic pain has been associated with waist size rather than overall weight and obesity, and the higher rates of pain in women with VAT and SAT fat deposits and their potential association with hormones and fat distribution also warrant further investigation. It opens up about this gender-dependent relationship.

Previously, excess belly fat deposits had been linked to a range of health problems, including dementia (more so in men), diabetes and even a higher risk of premature death.

According to the researchers, the good news in the current study is that waist size reduction can help reduce a wide range of chronic pain problems, rather than requiring medication to target pain sites.

They added: Abdominal obesity is involved in chronic pain, including visceral and subcutaneous fat. Therefore, reducing abdominal fat can be considered as a goal for chronic pain management, especially in those with localized pain and widespread pain.

This research was published in the Journal of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

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