by PM Ullrich, et al.
April 6, 2007
[Note: this study involved pairs of monozygotic twins (from a single egg or ‘identical’) only one of which has CFS. The cold pressor test is a measure of the increase in systolic blood pressure when the subject’s hand is immersed in ice-cold water.]
Journal: Pain Medicine. 2007 May-Jun;8(3):216-22.
Authors and affiliations: Ullrich PM, Afari N, Jacobsen C, Goldberg J, Buchwald D. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. [E-mail: pullrich@u.washington.edu ]
PMID: 17371408
Objective. Individuals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) experience many pain symptoms. The present study examined whether pain and fatigue ratings and pain threshold and tolerance levels for cold pain differed between twins with CFS and their co-twins without CFS.
Design. Co-twin control design to assess cold pain sensitivity, pain, and fatigue in monozygotic twins discordant for CFS.
Patients and setting. Fifteen monozygotic twin pairs discordant for CFS recruited from the volunteer Chronic Fatigue Twin Registry at the University of Washington.
Results. Although cold pain threshold and tolerance levels were slightly lower in twins with CFS than their co-twins without CFS, these differences failed to reach statistical significance. Subjective ratings of pain and fatigue at multiple time points during the experimental protocol among twins with CFS were significantly higher than ratings of pain (P = 0.003) and fatigue (P < 0.001) by their co-twins without CFS.
Conclusions. These results, while preliminary, highlight the perceptual and cognitive components to the pain experience in CFS. Future studies should focus on examining the heritability of pain sensitivity and the underlying mechanisms involved in the perception of pain sensitivity in CFS.
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