Health - Women undergo more pain than men

LONDON: For centuries, it has been believed that women are the more sensitive gender. Now, a new study has revealed that when it comes to pain, the fair sex are the most sensitive.

An international team has carried out the study and found that women experience more pain throughout the course of their lifetime, more often, and actually for longer duration as compared to men.

What's interesting is that the study found that women are also less likely to get the right treatment as most drugs, trialled mainly on men, are often less effective on them, the Independent reported.

According to researchers at International Association for the Study of Pain, it is due to different hormones, body composition and central nervous systems that make women more susceptible to a range of painful conditions than men. Dr Beverly Collett of Chronic Pain Policy Coalition in Britain said, "Most doctors and nurses are unaware of the differences that have life-threatening consequences for women."

Even ten years back, brain imaging experts at Oxford University found that women with untreated painful periods are more likely to react to other painful stimuli because of changes in the brain.

These findings suggest that untreated persistent pain makes women more susceptible to painful conditions.

"Our preliminary data suggests there are long-term health consequences of not taking monthly period pain seriously. The images show increased activity in different brain regions which suggests untreated pain permanently changes the brain and central nervous system," said Irene Tracey of Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain.