If you deal with chronic pain, you might find yourself frequently asking "why," often with no comforting conclusion. But, for the millions of people worldwide dealing with the persistent, painful condition, a new study from Wiley Journal's Pain Practice has discovered a possibly life-changing correlation between chronic pain and this metabolic deficiency, opening the door for new ways to deal with the recurring pain.
New Study Connects Chronic Pain and Low Levels of These Vitamins
As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic pain is classified as lasting a minimum of three months and impacting a person's ability to function normally, affecting a whopping 1 in 5 Americans. While there's no one direct cause of chronic pain and the signs and symptoms present differently from person to person, the researchers at Wiley Journal's Pain Practice have found an eye-opening consistency in patients' vitamin levels.
Utilizing the National Institutes of Health’s “All of Us Database,” the researchers on the study examined the serum levels of vitamins D in 38,006 subjects, vitamin C in 656 subjects, vitamin B-12 in 62,110 subjects, folate in 25,937 subjects and magnesium in 3,445 subjects, all of which are crucial micronutrients commonly associated with varying degrees of chronic pain. Upon analyzing the blood samples, researchers found that subjects with severe pain had notably lower levels of vitamin D, vitamin B12 and folate in their bloodstream than those with mild and moderate pain or those without pain at all. With this new data, patients with chronic pain can explore a wider array of options for managing pain, from dietary changes to supplement intake and more.
