Abdominal Adipose Tissue Linked to Musculoskeletal Pain
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2024 -- For women and men, abdominal adipose tissue is associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, according to a study published online Sept. 10 in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.
Zemene Demelash Kifle, from the University of Tasmania Menzies Institute for Medical Research in Australia, and colleagues used data from the U.K. Biobank to describe the associations between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived abdominal adipose tissue and multisite widespread chronic musculoskeletal pain. Visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue were quantified on abdominal MRI scans performed at two imaging visits. At corresponding visits, pain was assessed in the neck/shoulder, back, hip, knee, or "all over the body."
The study included 32,409 participants (50.8 percent women). The researchers found a dose-response association of visceral adipose tissue, subcutaneous adipose tissue, and their ratio with the number of chronic pain sites in both women (odds ratios [OR], 2.04, 1.60, and 1.60 per standard deviation, respectively) and men (OR, 1.34, 1.39, and 1.13, respectively) in multivariable analyses. In both sexes, higher levels of adipose tissue were also associated with increased odds of reporting chronic pain. In women versus men, the effect estimates of these adipose measures were relatively larger.
"Abdominal adipose tissue was associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, suggesting that excessive and ectopic fat depositions may be involved in the pathogenesis of multisite and widespread chronic musculoskeletal pain," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted September 2024
Read this next
Few Adolescents With Obesity Prescribed Obesity Medications
FRIDAY, June 13, 2025 -- Despite an increase in the prevalence of prescribing, only 0.5 percent of U.S. adolescents with obesity were prescribed an obesity medication in 2023...
Real-World Weight Loss With Semaglutide, Tirzepatide Less Than That Seen in Clinical Trials
THURSDAY, June 12, 2025 -- For patients with obesity initiating pharmacotherapy with semaglutide or tirzepatide, weight loss at one year is 8.7 percent on average, which is lower...
Adherence to Healthy Diet Improves Cardiometabolic Risk, Even Without Weight Loss
WEDNESDAY, June 11, 2025 -- A healthy diet improves cardiometabolic risk factors, even if not associated with weight loss (WL), according to a study published online June 5...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.