Suffering chronic pain? Blame that belly fat

Research suggests that losing belly or abdominal fat may help reduce chronic musculoskeletal pain, especially in women

The study was published in the open-access journal Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine

Musculoskeletal pain affects bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, or muscles and impacts about 171 billion people globally.

Previous research has linked obesity to musculoskeletal pain, but this study explores the connection between excess fat tissue and chronic pain at multiple body sites

Abdominal adipose tissue, or belly fat, was found to be associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, indicating that fat deposits may play a role in widespread pain

The study analyzed data from 32,409 participants, with an average age of 55, and conducted MRI scans to measure visceral and subcutaneous fat

Participants were reassessed after two years, showing a significant link between multiple chronic pain sites and various fat measurements

Women were found to be twice as affected by chronic pain compared to men, possibly due to differences in fat distribution and hormones

Researchers emphasized that this is an observational study and cannot establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship

The findings suggest that reducing abdominal fat could be a strategy for managing chronic musculoskeletal pain