It has long been known that there is a relationship between what we eat and the feeling of pain, as people who struggle with excess weight often have chronic pain. But a new study has found new clues to the relationship between food and pain.
An explanation may have been found for why this happens, with new research suggesting that circuits in the brain responsible for motivation and pleasure are affected when a person is in pain. According to Paul Geha, lead author of the study published in PLOS ONE, the new findings may reveal new physiological mechanisms that link chronic pain with a change in one’s eating behavior, and this change may be what leads to the development of obesity.
Obesity in patients with chronic pain may not be due to lack of movement
Enjoying what we eat develops depending on how our brain responds to what we eat. Based on this, researchers at the Del Monte Neuroscience Institute, who study the brain’s response to sugar and fat, also used a gelatinous dessert and pudding to change the sugar, fat, and texture of food. As a result, the researchers realized that none of the patients who ate the sugary food experienced a change in eating behavior, and observed that behavioral changes occurred in the patients who ate the fatty food.
While those with acute low back pain who later recovered were likely unable to enjoy the pudding, which sent impaired satiety signals from their digestive systems to their brains, the researchers noticed that the same did not occur in those with acute low back pain who had been in pain for a year. In contrast, patients suffering from chronic low back pain reported that foods high in fat and carbohydrates, such as ice cream and cookies, became problematic for them over time, and their brain scans showed impaired satiety signals.
Emphasizing that this change in food liking had no effect on calorie intake, Geha said, “These findings suggest that obesity in patients with chronic pain may not be caused by a lack of movement, but perhaps change the way they eat.” recorded as.
The region of the brain responsible for making decisions is smaller in people with chronic pain
In addition to all these, brain scans of the people participating in the research show that the small part of the brain, which has an important role in decision-making, revealed that a region of the nucleus accumbens may offer clues as to who may be more at risk of experiencing a long-term change in eating behavior.
Researchers have observed that the structure of this region of the brain is normal in patients who initially experience changes in eating behaviors but whose pain does not become chronic; found that although the eating behavior was normal, the nucleus accumbens of the patients whose pain became chronic was ‘smaller’.
But interestingly, the nucleus accumbens predicted pleasure ratings only in patients with chronic back pain and in patients who became chronic after an acute episode of back pain, leading researchers to think that this region is critical in the motivated behavior of chronic pain patients. An earlier study by Geha discovered that a smaller nucleus accumbens could indicate whether a person is at higher risk of developing chronic pain.
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