Summary: One of the new studies shows that alcohol may increase the chances of developing chronic pain. It found that prolonged alcohol abuse may even cause permanent chronic pain, and this risk is relatively greater in females.
Chronic pain is one of the most common complaints these days, and yet science has been struggling to understand its cause. Of course, it is evident that it occurs for many reasons, making pinpointing its cause challenging. Moreover, due to its different causes, its treatment also remains challenging.
Studies show that more than 20% of US adults experience chronic pains. Further, about 7-8% experience high-impact pain. Thus, these are individuals who are also more likely to abuse medications, opioids, or even alcohol.
Although alcohol may provide some short-term relief, however, a new study shows that in the longrun, it may make things much worse or even make chronic pain a permanent issue.
The risk of developing chronic pain after alcohol withdrawal depends on how frequently a person drinks and how much. Those who abuse alcohol at higher dosages for a long are much more likely to develop chronic pains.
These findings are vital considering that alcohol use disorder (AUD) is not a rare problem among US adults. Studies show that more than 10% of US adults abuse alcohol. In the US, about 29 million adults are living with alcohol use disorder. Accessible options like alcohol addiction treatment online may play a crucial role in managing this widespread issue and reducing its long-term impact.
This new study published in Pharmacological Research was done in mice models. In the study, researchers divided into three groups. The first group of mice consumed alcohol for 5 weeks in moderate amounts. Researchers found that on discontinuing alcohol exposure, these mice showed high pain sensitivity or heightened allodynia for five days.
However, things were worse in the second group, given a greater amount of alcohol. These mice showed heightened pain sensitivity for several days. There was one more interesting finding, which is the difference between the genders. Researchers found that female mice took almost twice as long to recover from this increased pain sensitivity or allodynia compared to male mice.
Things were quite different for the group of mice fed with higher alcohol dosages for longer. These mice did not show any sign of recovery even after 26 days of abstinence. Researchers say that 26 days in their mice model is equal to 30 months in humans. So this suggests that heavy drinking for longer causes some permanent changes in the body, resulting in permanent chronic pain.
To understand the cause of these permanent changes, researchers examined the dorsal root ganglia of heavy-drinking mice. They found that prolonged duration of heavy drinking led to permanently reduced levels of endocannabinoid 2-AG in the ganglia. Hence, researchers think that treatment targeting 2-AG may be one of the ways of managing allodynia.
The researchers also found altered levels of eicosanoids, a type of immune signaling molecule, especially in the dorsal root ganglia of female mice, explaining sex differences between the groups.
So, researchers say that the next logical step would be finding out if normalizing 2-AG levels using various modulators or some medications can help prevent or reverse allodynia due to alcohol drinking. Further, it is also vital to see how males and females may respond differently to various treatments.
To sum up, this study found that chronic alcohol use, especially at higher dosages, may cause some permanent changes in the nervous system, causing persistent pain. Further, this risk is much greater in females than in males.
Considering that AUD is not a rare issue in the US, it may be one of the significant causes of increasing reports of chronic pain. Understanding the mechanism behind chronic pain in various population groups is essential for finding its safe and effective treatment.
Source:
Borgonetti, V., Vozella, V., Ware, T., Cruz, B., Bullard, R., Cravatt, B. F., Galeotti, N., & Roberto, M. (2024). Excessive alcohol intake produces persistent mechanical allodynia and dysregulates the endocannabinoid system in the lumbar dorsal root ganglia of genetically-selected Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats. Pharmacological Research, 209, 107462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2024.107462
