This article was previously published on September 7, 2019 and has been updated with new information.
It’s no secret that there are glaring differences in how people react differently to the same stimulus, especially between men and women. For example, Diane Halpern, PhD, formerly president of the American Psychological Association, wrote an academic text, “Gender Differences in Cognitive Ability.” Bruce Goldman, science writer at Stanford,first reported in the preface to the first edition that:2
“At the time, it became clear to me that any gender differences in thinking ability were due to socialization practices, to research artifacts and mistakes, as well as to biases and biases. prejudice… After reviewing a pile of high magazine articles and many books and book chapters make piles of articles…
The researchers also discovered structural differences in the brains of men and women including greater total brain volume in men and higher tissue density in the left amygdala, the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Dr Amber Ruigrok carried out research revealing the asymmetrical impact of gender on the developing brain. She speaks:3
“For the first time, we can go through the vast literature and confirm that brain size and structure are different in men and women. We should not ignore gender in neuroscience research, particularly in neuroscience research. when investigating psychiatric conditions that are more common in men or women.”
As scientists gathered more information about the specific differences between men and women, it raised a lot of questions. Roger Fillingim, Ph.D.,4 from the University of Florida, has spent many years studying differences in pain perception and their impact on pain management.5
Women often feel the pain more intensely than men
Fillingim found that gender-related personality and behavioral differences were real and profoundly affected many aspects of life and health. Gender differences affect how men and women use logic and solve problems. Even at rest, neural activity in the brain is different.6
As described in a literature review,7 Fillingim began evaluating an area of research that showed gender-based differences in response to pain. He provided a brief overview of sex-related differences in biological and sociological processes as well as the role of sex hormones in influencing pain sensitivity.
He suggests directions for future research with a focus on exploring the mechanisms of the differences to aid efforts in prescribing specific treatments for men and women. He participated in a follow-up study8 with the objective of evaluating differences in peripheral and central sensitivities in individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.
The team concluded that there is evidence that women have a higher overall sensitivity to pain than men.9 In an interview with NPR, Fillingim explains what prompted the desire to explore gender-based differences in perception of pain:ten
“The burden of pain is significantly greater for women than it is for men, and that makes pain researchers like myself wonder if the pain perception system in women is different than in men.” or not.”
Fillingim is currently the director of the University of Florida Center for Pain Research and Intervention.11 He and his team recruited healthy volunteers for pain testing sessions in which participants were exposed to pain triggers in the form of electrical stimulation, pressure, heat, or cold.twelfth Volunteers rated their pain on a standard scale from 0 to 10.
Fillingim said his findings are consistent with the findings of other researchers.13 Although the pain stimuli were the same, on average the women reported more pain. Fillingim believes that finding the reason behind the difference could make pain treatment more effective beyond standard prescriptions for highly addictive opioid drugs.
Perception of pain is influenced by a number of factors
Fillingim is studying several factors that influence pain perception, including sex hormones. In discussing the pain perception of people living with arthritis, scholars from the Arthritis Foundation pointed to factors that influence perception including age, emotions, and support systems. .14
In the elderly, the regions of the brain that process pain may undergo a structural change that results in decreased perception of pain.15 However, recent studies have shown that sensations can increase or decrease as you age. Psychological state is also a factor in the treatment of pain.
Researchers have found that people with negative attitudes or emotional states may experience increased pain intensity and poor response to pain management.16 In contrast, people with a positive attitude often get better clinical treatment for their pain with medication.
In an analysis of chronic pain in individuals, researchers have found that perception is more than just sensation as it often includes emotional aspects, the individual’s attention and response. learned over time.17 Anxiety and depression also contribute.
Scientists have found that by providing psychological support, they can reduce pain medication use and increase an individual’s sense of control. The perception of people experiencing chronic pain will also be influenced by their expectations of what they will feel and how they will respond to treatment.18
Based on the results of a Fillingim study performed on people with active knee osteoarthritis, the team suggested that women had an enhanced central sensitivity to pain.19 Central sensitization occurs in the nervous system when an individual experiences chronic pain.20
This condition has two features associated with increased sensitivity, one of which occurs when a person experiences pain under conditions that would normally be painless. The other happens when something that normally causes pain is perceived as more painful. In essence, the central nervous system becomes upregulated in a persistent state, lowering an individual’s threshold for what causes pain.
What Fillingim discovered was that perception of an acute pain stimulus was more identical in women than in men, and that women also experienced enhanced central sensitization to chronic pain.
More women suffer from anxiety and pain than men
According to Harvard Health Publishing21 There is a link between anxiety, depression and pain. The overlap is especially significant in people with chronic pain. Researchers are finding that the overlap has something to do with biological mechanisms in addition to psychological factors.
When anxiety and pain overlap, treatment can be difficult. Researchers have found that significant mood disturbances that were apparent before surgical intervention may contribute to the development of chronic pain after surgery.22 Research23 found a link between anxiety and paroxysmal pain involving the hippocampus, which plays a role in anxiety.24
Anxiety disorders are some of the most common mental health conditions. According to population-based surveys, nearly 33.7% may experience anxiety during their lifetime.25 It is important to note that researchers have consistently found that women suffer from anxiety disorders twice as often as men, and this may be related to life experience or genetic and neurobiological factors. .26
Psychologist Carolyn Mazure, PhD, of Yale Medical School27 note that women are also more likely to have chronic pain-related disability.28 The combination of a higher prevalence of chronic pain conditions, anxiety disorders, and a deeper perception of pain may have largely contributed to the trend toward combined use of opioids and benzodiazepines among women.29
Although clinical guidelines warn doctors against this combination, between 2002 and 2014, the proportion of people taking opioids and benzodiazepines together increased from 6.8% to 9.6%.30
Half of them received both drugs from the same doctor on the same day; Combination writing is more common among people taking opioids for more than 90 days, in both women and the elderly.thirty first
Does substance abuse progress more quickly?
Drug overdose deaths related to prescription and synthetic opioid use among women increased significantly between 1999 and 2017.32 The percentage of total drug overdoses among women aged 30 to 64 has increased by 260% during the same period.33 Although the number of female deaths is lower than that of men, the number appears to have increased at a similar rate through 2017.34
In an analysis35 of a large claims database whose results were published in 2009, researchers studied chronic opioid users and their use of health services. They found 4.56% of all insurance claims were made by chronic opioid users, just 0.65% of the total population.
In this group, women make up more than 63% and file a larger number of claims on behalf of health services.36 The authors suggest that opioids are often prescribed for arthritis and headaches, or at times when patients have physical conditions that contraindicate opioids, such as COPD.
Another study37 provides results that are thought to indicate gender-based vulnerabilities in women’s consequences of addiction. The objective was to assess the effect of gender on progression from regular substance use to treatment.
The researchers found that women experienced fewer years of regular use before choosing treatment; however, they found no difference in the severity of sex-specific drug dependence.38 They conclude that this may support the idea that women experience addiction to opioids, marijuana, and alcohol.
The study didn’t look at the level of failure in the participants’ lives before seeking treatment. In other words, women may have shown more understanding of their treatment needs than a more rapid progression of addiction.
Seeking Natural Options Before Using Opium
If you are struggling with opioid addiction, please seek professional help immediately. An important step to healing and health is making changes to your diet and lifestyle, which can produce dramatic results. Four key areas to address include:
- Eliminate or radically reduce your consumption of grains and sugar
- Increase your intake of omega-3 fats of animal origin
- Optimizing your vitamin D production
- Thoroughly reduce the amount of processed foods
Each of these helps reduce inflammation in your body. If you’re battling chronic pain, it’s important to address the underlying problem to reduce discomfort and improve your health. You may find it helpful to start physical therapy or visit a chiropractor to address postural challenges, lower back pain, chronic headaches, or hip and knee pain among others.
In addition to these strategies, consider using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves psychological acupressure to optimize your physical and emotional health and well-being and heal. EFT is easy to learn and can help eliminate negative emotions, reduce cravings (including sugar), and reduce pain.
If you are struggling with opioid addiction, EFT can also support you through a structured recovery program. If you currently suffer from chronic pain, you can take comfort in knowing there are many natural, safe, and effective alternatives you can consider instead of turning to over-the-counter pain relievers and pain relievers. prescription.
