Excess abdominal fat linked to widespread chronic pain in women, study finds

Excess fat around the abdomen is related to more chances of experiencing widespread chronic pain, especially in women, according to a study. In over 32,000 participants from the UK Biobank dataset, researchers found that women having fat surrounding their abdominal organ, called 'visceral adipose tissue', were twice as likely to experience chronic pain at multiple points in their body. About half the participants were women, aged 55 years on average.

Chronic pain is a condition in which pain persists beyond the immediate healing period, following an injury or trauma. It can sometimes be widespread, felt in more than one part of the body.

The researchers, including those from the University of Tasmania, Australia, also found that women having higher levels of 'subcutaneous adipose tissue', or the fat right under the skin that can be pinched, were at a 60% increased chance of having widespread chronic pain. The findings are published in the journal Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

While excess fat in obesity is known to be linked to pain in the muscles and bones, researchers said that the relationship between excess visceral and subcutaneous and widespread chronic pain has not been studied.

Among the men studied, those having higher levels of visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue were found to be at a 34% and a 39% higher chance of having widespread chronic pain, respectively.

The stronger links between fat and chronic pain in women could be a result of how differently fat is distributed compared to men, along with hormonal differences. The researchers advised that addressing abdominal fat could help reduce chronic pain, particularly if it is widespread.

For the study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the abdomen were used for measuring both the types of fat -- visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue.

The participants also underwent pain assessments, in which they were asked if they had experienced pain in their neck or shoulder, back, hip, knee or 'all over the body' for more than three months. The scans and evaluations were repeated after two years for a smaller group of 638 participants.

Being an observational study, the authors could not establish cause-and-effect links. They also acknowledged the study's limitations, including the comparatively smaller size of the participants' sample undergoing repeat tests, and not measuring the severity of pain.

"Abdominal adipose tissue was associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, suggesting that excessive and ectopic (abnormal) fat depositions may be involved in the pathogenesis of multisite and widespread chronic musculoskeletal pain," the authors wrote.