Study: Obese people have higher rates of pain. Possibly due to fat secretion of inflammatory hormones like leptin

http://o.canada.com/2012/07/07/people-who-are-obese-face-higher-rates-of-pain-study-says/

People who are obese face higher rates of pain, study says

Obesity can cause not only mental anguish, but also physical pain, according to a survey of more than one million people in the U.S.

Appearing this month in the journal Obesity, the study found that overweight people reported 20 per cent higher rates of pain than “normal” weight, and the higher the body weight, the greater the pain.

The obese group reported 68 per cent higher rates of pain; those with extreme, or “class III obesity” — meaning a body mass index of 40 or more, one of the fastest-growing weight classes in Canada — reported 254 per cent more pain.

“People who are obese are considerably more prone to having daily pain,” the authors write — and the association held after the team controlled for back, neck or other painful conditions.

According to the researchers, one plausible explanation is that excess fat is biologically active. It secretes leptin and other hormones that can cause inflammation throughout the body “that ultimately create states that result in pain.”