Abstract
Chronic pain induces a multitude of harmful effects; recently it has been suggested
that chronic pain is also associated with premature aging, manifested in shortened
telomere length (TL). However, evidence for this hypothesis is scarce and inconsistent.
The aim was twofold: 1) Investigate whether chronic pain is associated with premature
aging, and 2) Determine whether physical exercise (PE) moderates this association
if it exists. Participants were 116 male subjects, with (n = 67) and without chronic
pain (n = 49). Blood samples for TL analysis were collected and participants were
interviewed and completed questionnaires. As a part of the cohort, we included people
with physical disability; this variable was controlled in the analysis. The TL of
individuals with chronic pain was significantly shorter than that of pain-free individuals.
Regression analysis revealed a significant moderating effect of PE on chronic pain
and TL, above and beyond the effects of disability, age, and weight. Whereas chronic
pain was associated with shorter telomeres in participants who did not exercise, this
association was nonsignificant among participants who did exercise. The results suggest
that chronic pain is associated with premature ageing; however, PE may mitigate this
association and may protect individuals against the harmful effects of chronic pain.
Perspective
The study suggests that it is important to monitor signs of premature ageing among
chronic pain patients as they are at risk. However, chronic pain patients may benefit
from regular PE in this respect as it may moderate premature ageing.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 13, 2020
Accepted:
August 7,
2020
Received:
July 22,
2020
Footnotes
Funding: No funding sources were provided.
Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest related to this study.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 by United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.
