Carrying a spare tyre or beer belly could increase womens’ risk of suffering from chronic pain by up to 60 per cent, new research suggests.
Having more fat in the abdominal area — which houses organs like the liver and pancreas — was linked to pain in numerous parts of the body, particularly in women.
This adds to the well-evidenced list of dangers of carrying fat around the middle, including raised risk of type 2 diabetes.
In the study, University of Western Australia experts examined health data from over 32,000 Brits of an average age of 55.
Each participant underwent MRI scans of their abdomen to measure the amount of fat around their abdominal organs like the liver and pancreas, known medically as visceral fat.
The amount of fat just under the skin, known as subcutaneous fat, which could be pinched was also measured.
Participants were also asked if they had experienced any pain in their neck or shoulder, back, hip, knee or all over their body that had lasted more than three months.
Two years later, the assessments were carried out again in 638 people in the group.
Results showed that the more fat people carried around their abdomens, the higher their chance of reporting pain.
Being overweight with a higher body mass index (BMI) was also linked to greater chance of pain.
Women suffered more, with the study finding those with higher fat levels both around their organs and just under skin were 60 percent more likely than those with lower levels to suffer body-wide chronic pain.
In comparison men carrying a beer belly only had a 13 percent higher risk of chronic pain.
Writing in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine the authors said: ‘Higher levels of adipose tissue [fat] were associated with greater odds of reporting chronic pain in both sexes.
‘The effect estimates were relatively larger in women than in men.’
They added that the difference between the sexes may lie with variance in ‘fat distribution and hormones’.
The team said trimming body fat around the waist ‘may be considered a target for chronic pain management, particularly in those with pain in multiple sites and widespread pain’.
The experts suggested excess fat may trigger inflammation; a process whereby the body releases chemicals in response to damage that prompts an immune response.
Obesity has long been linked to inflammation in bodily tissues.
Inflammation may also impact the nervous system and people’s experience of pain, the authors said.
The study had a number of limitations, including that it only recorded the presence of pain not severity.
It comes as the rate of obesity in Britain continues to balloon with two thirds of all adults now overweight. This compares to just half in the mid-90s.
Of the two-thirds overweight, about a quarter are obese.
In terms of obesity, this is equivalent to 16.8 million people, an estimated 8 million women, 7.4 million men, 760,000 boys and 590,000 girls.
Experts have blamed the nation’s ever-expanding waistline on the simultaneous rise of ultra-processed food and modern sedentary, desk-bound lifestyles.
Ministers have previously hoped a wave of new drugs to tackle obesity, like the Wegovy weight-loss jab, would help turn the tide on the crisis.
-Daily Mail.uk
