Nature Sub-Journal: High-fat diet may induce peripheral nerve dysfunction and exacerbate chronic pain

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According to a groundbreaking paper written by a team led by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (also known as UT Health San Antonio), a typical Western high-fat diet can increase the incidence of diseases such as diabetes or obesity The risk of painful diseases
.

In addition, changes in diet may greatly reduce or even reverse pain caused by inflammatory pain-such as arthritis, trauma or surgery, or neuropathic pain such as diabetes
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This new discovery can help treat patients with chronic pain by changing their eating habits or developing drugs to prevent the release of certain fatty acids in the body

This paper lasted more than five years and was published in the journal Nature Metabolism by a collaborative team of 15 local researchers
.

Chronic pain is the main cause of disability worldwide
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However, although fat reduction is often recommended to treat diabetes, autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular diseases, the role of dietary lipids or fatty acids in painful conditions is relatively unknown

In this new paper, Dr.
Boyd and his colleagues used a variety of methods in mice and humans to study the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids in pain conditions
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They found that a typical Western diet rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats is an important risk factor for inflammation and neuropathic pain

Omega-6 fats are mainly found in foods containing vegetable oils, and they have their benefits
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However, the characteristic of the western diet related to obesity is that the content of these acids in foods from corn flakes to onion rings is much higher than healthy omega-3 fats, which are found in fish and flaxseeds and walnuts.

Generally speaking, unhealthy foods rich in omega-6 fats include processed snacks, fast food, cakes, fatty meat and cured meats
.

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids that play an important role in our body and may provide many health benefits
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These are essential fats, because our body cannot produce them, we must get them from our diet, mainly from oily fish

Researchers found that reversing this diet, especially by lowering omega-6 and increasing omega-3 lipids, greatly reduced these painful conditions
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In addition, the authors demonstrated that the skin omega-6 lipid levels of patients with type 2 diabetic neuropathic pain are closely related to the reported pain levels and the need to take analgesics

This paper makes a compelling contribution to the huge unmet need for transformation, because no treatment can change the nature of this neurological disease
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In the editorial accompanying the paper, Duke University researchers Aidan McGinnis and Ru-Rong Ji wrote: “This comprehensive and excellent study by Boyd et al.

Original source:

Elevated dietary ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids induce reversible peripheral nerve dysfunction that exacerbates comorbid pain conditions.