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Cited by 177Pain Management and Placebo EffectPain Mechanisms and TreatmentsSmoking Behavior and Cessation

Cigarette smoking, stress-induced analgesia and pain perception in men and women

Girdler, Susan S., Maixner, William, Naftel, Herman A., Stewart, Paul W., Moretz, Rebecca L., Light, Kathleen C.·2005·Pain
DOI 10.1016/j.pain.2004.12.035
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Abstract

This study examined gender differences in smoking-related analgesia and stress-induced analgesia (SIA), as a function of pain modality. Forty men (20 smokers, 20 nonsmokers) and 37 women (17 smokers) were tested twice for pain sensitivity to tourniquet ischemia, thermal heat, and cold pressor tests; once following mental stress and once following rest control, counterbalancing order. Cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to mental stress were also examined. While expected gender differences in pain sensitivity were observed, women smokers had greater threshold and tolerance times to ischemic pain than women nonsmokers (P<0.05) when pain testing followed rest. Male smokers had greater threshold and tolerance to cold pressor pain than male nonsmokers (P<0.05) after both rest and stress. Only women showed evidence for SIA, since women nonsmokers demonstrated greater ischemic pain threshold and tolerance following mental stress versus rest (P<0.05), and all women reported lower thermal heat pain unpleasantness after stress versus rest (P=0.05). Only nonsmokers showed expected inverse relationships between sympathetic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity measures and sensitivity to pain. Smokers showed evidence for blunted HPA-axis function at rest and stress. These results indicate that analgesia related to both being a smoker and stress is influenced by gender and pain modality. The reduced pain perception in smokers and absence of relationships between endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms and pain sensitivity may reflect a maladaptive response to chronic smoking.

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Authors
Girdler, S. S., Maixner, W., Naftel, H. A., Stewart, P. W., Moretz, R. L., & Light, K. C.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Girdler, Susan S.
ORCID
Venue
Pain
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2005-04
Volume
114
Issue
3
Pages
372-385
ISSN
0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.pain.2004.12.035
OpenAlex
W2027714672
Cited by
177
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 12
FWCI
4.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Pain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA013705, DA13705)
  • National Center for Research Resources (RR00046, M01RR000046)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
Keywords
cigarette smoking, stress-induced analgesia, pain perception, gender differences, pain threshold, pain tolerance, ischemic pain, cold pressor pain, thermal pain, psychological stress, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, sympathetic nervous system, cardiovascular response, chronic smoking
MeSH terms
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Adult, beta-Endorphin, Blood Pressure, Cold Temperature, Female, Heart Rate, Hot Temperature, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Ischemia, Male, Nicotine, Nociceptors, Norepinephrine, Perception, Sex Characteristics, Smoking, Stress, Psychological, Substance Withdrawal Syndrome, Pain Threshold

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