Edwards, S.A., Martin, S.L., Rainey, T. et al. (4 more authors) (2023) Influence of acute fasting on pain tolerance in healthy subjects. A randomised crossover study. Frontiers in Pain Research, 4. 1153107. ISSN 2673-561X
Abstract
Background:
Although chronic pain and obesity are global health crises with substantial healthcare costs, little is known about the relationship between pain perception and eating behaviours. Food consumption has been reported to provide an analgesic effect by the release of neurotransmitters modulating the pain network. However, whether short-term (acute) fasting affects pain perception remains unclear.
Purpose:
This study aimed to investigate the effect of acute fasting on pain perception and whether attention and mood changes drove the observed changes.
Patients and methods:
The cold pressor test (CPT) was used to investigate the pain tolerance of 25 healthy participants in both non-fasting and 12-h fasting sessions. They were randomised to either session with a crossover to the other after at least 24 h, with the experimenter blinded to the sessions. The pain tolerance was measured using a Stroop task in both attentive and distracted states. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire was used to capture the mood, and a 10-point hunger scale was used to measure hunger. Mixed-effects models were used to investigate the influence of fasting and distraction on pain perception, accounting for the repeated measures.
Results:
Fasting reduced CPT pain tolerance, with fasting participants twice as likely to withdraw their hands early (hazard ratio = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3–4.5). Though men tolerated CPT pain longer than women, there was no evidence that men responded to fasting differently than women (p = 0.9). In addition, no evidence supporting that fasting affected attention or mood was found. Nonetheless, it increased hunger scores by 2.7 points on a 10-point scale (95% CI: 1.2–4.2) and decreased blood glucose concentration levels by 0.51 mmol/L (95% CI: 0.19–0.84).
Conclusion:
Acute fasting reduces pain tolerance in the healthy participants, and this effect is independent of gender and attention or mood changes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 Edwards, Martin, Rainey, Whitaker, Greenwood, Jones and Sivan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | Chronic Pain, Eating, Attention, mood, gender |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM) > Clinical & Population Science Dept (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 31 Aug 2023 10:33 |
Last Modified: | 12 Sep 2023 07:34 |
Published Version: | frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2023.115310... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fpain.2023.1153107 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:202847 |