November 2, 2024 - A study on gender-specific pain may help explain why women have more chronic pain and are less responsive to opioid treatments. According to research from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, men and women have very different perspectives on pain management. 

Scientists say that in actuality, women receive very little relief from the strongest opiates and medicines, while males benefit greatly from them. The study has discovered that men and women use different biological systems to relieve pain. Women use alternative, non-opioid-based pain relief mechanisms, whereas men use endogenous opioids, the body's natural painkillers, to reduce pain. 

“Dependence develops because people start taking more opioids when their original dosage stops working,” said Zeidan who is professor of anesthesiology and Endowed Professor in Empathy and Compassion Research at UC San Diego Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. “Although speculative, our findings suggest that maybe one reason that females are more likely to become addicted to opioids is that they’re biologically less responsive to them and need to take more to experience any pain relief.”

The researchers arrived at the conclusion that adjusting pain management to a patient's gender may help enhance patient outcomes and lessen the need for/and abuse of opioids.

In order to provide effective pain relief and prevent opioid abuse, Zeidan advocated for more gender-specific pain treatments.

Source: Media Reports