Women and visceral pain: are the reproductive organs the main protagonists? Mini-review at the occasion of the 'European Week Against Pain in Women 2007'.

摘要

An important amount of pain experienced by women in the course of their life originates from internal organs, with epidemiological studies suggesting that the global burden of visceral pain is significantly higher in females than in males. In addition, there are diversities in symptom presentation even for painful conditions similarly common in the two sexes (Barsky et al., 2001; Berkley and Holdcroft, 2005; Berkley et al., 2006; Breivik et al., 2006; LeResche, 2006; Hadler and Locke, 2007). To what extent are these differences a mere reflection of the obvious difference in the nature and function of the reproductive organs between women and men?