High blood pressure may help protect against chronic Muscle pain in the back and elsewhere, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine, possibly by decreasing pain sensitivity.

Previous reports have linked high blood pressure with diminished pain sensitivity, but it was unclear if blood pressure was related to the occurrence of chronic muscle pain.

To investigate, Dr. Knut Hagen, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and colleagues analyzed data from two public health studies conducted in Norway in the mid 80s and 90s. The study involved more than 46,000 adults, including about half with chronic muscle complaints.

People with High blood pressure were less likely to report chronic muscle problems than those with normal blood pressure. In fact, as blood pressure increased, the likelihood of having these problems decreased. This association was largely the same regardless of the body site being considered, gender or age.

“To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale population-based study investigating the relationship between blood pressure” and the rate of chronic muscle problems at various body sites, the researchers note. Further studies are needed to better understand how the body system controlling blood pressure interacts with the system that regulates pain, they add.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, April 25, 2005.