Fat around the waist has been linked to chronic pain in the rest of the body

A new study has discovered that people with more fat in the abdominal area – which surrounds major organs such as the liver and pancreas – are more likely to suffer pain in other areas of the body, with the effects particularly bad for females.

Experts at the University of Western Australia examined data from over 32,000 people taking part in the UK Biobank study and results showed that the more fat that people carried around their stomachs, the more likely they were to report feelings of pain.

The team wrote in the journal Regional Anaesthesia And Pain Medicine: "Higher levels of adipose tissue were also associated with greater odds of reporting chronic pain in both sexes.

"The effect estimates of these adipose measures were relatively larger in women than in men.

"The identified stronger effects in women than men may reflect sex differences in fat distribution and hormones."

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