Grant: Project Grant

Chronic pain increases with age. Unfortunately, it is often neglected, misdiagnosed, and not adequately treated. As consequences, it severely impacts seniors' health, daily life independence and their quality of life. While the immune system changes with age, normal aging process is accompanied by a low-grade systemic inflammation, named as inflammaging, which has been considered as a driver for many age-related chronic diseases. However, its role in altered pain experience in the elderly is unknown. We propose longitudinal animal studies to understand whether there is a correlation between the development of inflammaging and altered pain behavior in mice across lifespan; and whether inflammaging impacts directly age related-altered pain behavior. We also want to collect direct evidence from aging mice that counteracting inflammaging with healthy lifestyle could improve pain experience. We expect that through the proposed study, we will have a better understanding of chronic pain during the aging process. We will be able to provide guidance to seniors to improve their chronic pain experience and reduce associated discomfort by promoting healthy lifestyle. We want our parents and grandparents to have a better quality of life.