Pain
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The objectives of this study were to examine whether (1) daily pain-related changes in physical functioning differed between happily partnered, unhappily partnered, and unpartnered female chronic pain patients, and (2) affect and pain cognitions mediated the partner status effect on pain-related changes in physical functioning. Two hundred fifty-one women with chronic pain due to osteoarthritis and/or fibromyalgia completed 30 daily electronic diaries assessing pain, affect, pain-related cognitions, and physical functioning. Patients living with a romantic partner also completed a modified version of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale to assess relationship satisfaction. ⋯ The impact of relationship status on pain-related changes in physical functioning was partly mediated by the pain cognitions catastrophizing and coping difficulty. These results indicate that happily partnered pain patients show less pain-related physical disability and more adaptive affective and cognitive responses to daily pain changes than do unhappily partnered and unpartnered patients. Living in a happy union may bolster the capacity of patients to sustain a sense of pain coping efficacy during pain episodes, which in turn, minimizes pain-related physical activity limitations.
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Comparative Study
Ethnic differences in physical pain sensitivity: role of acculturation.
Although research suggests that Asian Americans are more reactive to physical pain than European Americans, some evidence suggests that the observed differences in ethnicity may actually reflect Asian Americans' differing levels of acculturation. Two studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. ⋯ Study 2 further controlled for ethnicity and replicated this pattern in finding heightened pain reactions among mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong relative to Hong Kong Chinese students. These findings suggest a role for acculturation in accounting for ethnic differences in physical pain sensitivity.
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Joint pain is a common clinical problem for which both inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases are major causes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the behavioral, histological, and neurochemical alterations associated with joint pain. The murine model of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) was used to induce joint pain in knockout mice for CB1 (CB1KO) and CB2 cannabinoid receptors (CB2KO) and transgenic mice overexpressing CB2 receptors (CB2xP). ⋯ All mouse lines developed similar histological changes after MIA intra-articular injection. Nevertheless, MIA intra-articular injection produced specific changes in the expression of cannabinoid and opioid receptor genes in lumbar spinal cord sections that were further modulated by the genetic alteration of the cannabinoid receptor system. These results revealed that CB2 receptor plays a predominant role in the control of joint pain manifestations and is involved in the adaptive changes induced in the opioid system under this pain state.