Associations among body composition, chronic pain, evoked pain sensitivity, and adiposity-related systemic inflammation in individuals with SCI

The goals of this study are to improve the understanding of relationships among body composition, dietary intake, nociceptive system function, and chronic pain after SCI, and to investigate the influence of systemic inflammation on these relationships. The studies combine cross-sectional and longitudinal studies to: a) quantify relationships between body composition and the severity of chronic pain in individuals with chronic SCI; b) identify the extent to which inflammation associated with excess adiposity and diet influence nociceptive system function and chronic pain; and c) provide preliminary data describing the magnitude of changes in these variables during the first year post-injury.