The Reason Behind Pain Killers being more Effective for Women
on
04 July, 2012
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In accordance with tips regarding women’s health, a new study conducted
at the State University of New York has put forth the reason for the
effectiveness of painkillers on the female gender as opposed to the male
gender. Despite the fact that from mid-nineteenth century onwards, it
was known that pain killers are more effective on women as compared to
the male population but the reason for this phenomenon was unknown;
until recently of course.
The reasons behind pain killers being more effective on the female
population and it has increased people’s faith in using pain killers to
curb pain and maintain a woman’s health.
It has been well over a century now that it was revealed that some
narcotic analgesics affect women more than men but the reason was yet to
be discovered. The new study reveals that the narcotic analgesics
decrease pain by activating opioid receptors, which are located on
nerves that transmit painful sensations.
The three main types of opioid receptors; mu, kappa and delta opioid
receptors in the brain and the spinal cord, were not thought to be
different for men and women. Therefore, it was difficult to determine
why painkillers had different effects of both sexes. The new study
reveals that the same major types of opioid receptor interact
differently, depending on sex.
In the test, the spinal cord of the female laboratory animals used for
the test were found to contain almost five times more kappa-mu
hetero dimer; a compound of mu-opioid and kappa-opioid receptor, than the
spinal cord of male animals.
Moreover, the study also suggests that the kappa-mu opioid receptor
hetero dimers could function as a molecular switch that shifts the action
of kappa-opioid receptors and endogenous chemicals that act on them
from pain promoting to pain alleviating. Therefore, the Kappa-mu opioid
receptor hetero dimers could serve as a novel molecular target for pain
management in women.
