New research suggests that men's immune systems possess a more effective mechanism for mitigating pain, potentially explaining why women often experience more chronic pain after injuries compared to men. This finding challenges historical dismissal of women's pain and highlights the importance of biological factors in pain perception.
The research suggests that men’s immune systems have a better mechanism for shutting off pain, which could explain why women have more chronic symptoms.Scientists who study chronic pain have long puzzled over a particular type of scenario: A man and woman get into a car accident and sustain the same injuries.
But the woman experiences long-lasting pain, while the man recovers more quickly. Historically, some doctors have dismissed these differences as women exaggerating their pain or being unable to tolerate the same discomfort as men. But studies have repeatedly found that women areoffers a clue as to why: Men’s immune systems may have a better mechanism for shutting off pain, likely because of their higher testosterone levels. “What we show is, it’s a real biological mechanism from the immune cells. It’s not in the mind,” said Geoffroy Laumet, one of the study’s authors and an associate professor of physiology at Michigan State University. Ann Gregus, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech who researches ways to treat chronic pain, said the findings underscore the need to take women’s pain seriously. “A lot of women are taught to hide their pain, because then, if they don’t, people will perceive that they can’t do their jobs, that they can’t take care of their families,” Gregus, who wasn’t part of the new study, said. The findings apply to persistent pain after surgery or a physical trauma. However, other chronic pain conditions — like fibromyalgia — don’t follow a traumatic event.“Does it explain everything? I don’t think so. We don’t have any single, magical pathway,” said Dr. Michele Curatolo, a professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington, who wasn’t involved in the new research. Curatolo is the chief medical officer at 4E Therapeutics, a neuroscience company developing treatments for pain. For the new study, the researchers asked 245 people who had experienced traumatic injuries — primarily car accidents — to rate their level of pain. Though men and women had roughly the same pain severity on the day the injury occurred, men saw their pain resolve more quickly over a period of nearly three months. Blood tests showed that the men had higher levels of a molecule called interleukin-10, which switches off pain signals to the brain. Laumet said testosterone increased the production of interleukin-10 from white blood cells. Adele is opening up about performing even when she’s in major pain. The Grammy winner was at her “Weekends with Adele” Las Vegas Residency over the weekend, where she reveals in a video obtained by the Daily Star that she suffers from “really bad sciatica.”The team of scientists gave mice injections to stimulate an inflammatory response, and afterward, male mice showed signs of their pain resolving, whereas female mice did not. Male mice also recovered faster from a small surgical incision and from being restrained in a tube for two hours — a scenario designed to mimic the physical and emotional stress of a car accident. Across the experiments in mice, white blood cells that produce interleukin-10 were far more active in males.“It’s building upon a series of studies that have been done to show that men tend to use their innate immune system more effectively than women,” she said. But Curatolo added that the sex differences aren’t black and white — and men often have long-lasting pain, too. In the long run, Laumet said, the findings could be used to develop new treatments for chronic pain in women, such as testosterone patches. Topical treatments like that tend to come with fewer side effects than systemic drugs, he said. As it stands, many of the current options for chronic pain relief have concerning side effects and don’t fully alleviate symptoms. Long-term use of over-the-counter painkillers can lead to kidney damage or stomach ulcers. Opioids, often prescribed as a last resort, can be addictive. Doctors even sometimes prescribe antidepressants or anti-seizure medications off-label for pain, but many patients with chronic pain don’t respond to them. And physical therapy or acupuncture may work for some patients but not others.A mom wrote a book to help her kids process their dad's death. Now she's on trial for his killing
Chronic Pain Immune System Gender Differences Testosterone Pain Management
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