Inflammation and depression are known contributors to hypertension, but the relationship between chronic pain and incident hypertension has been less clear. To clarify this, researchers analyzed data from 206,963 UK Biobank participants, assessing how different pain characteristics, including type, location, and extent, relate to future hypertension. Over a median follow-up of 13.5 years, individuals reporting short-term pain (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.10), chronic localized pain (HR: 1.20), or chronic widespread pain (HR: 1.75) showed a higher risk of developing hypertension compared with those reporting no pain.
Chronic headache, back, neck, hip, abdominal, and widespread pain, as well as chronic musculoskeletal pain, were all linked to increased hypertension risk. Depression and inflammation together accounted for 11.7% of this association. These findings indicate that chronic pain itself…
