What does a new global study tell us about women’s pain and how it is treated? | In Focus Podcast

Did you know that pain is considered the leading cause of disability in the world?A large global study on pain, published recently looked at how pain is distributed around the world and how pain affects people across their lifespans. The results were interesting. Some of the findings were that women report suffering more pain than men. Pain rises steeply before the age of 55 and 18.3% of the global pain burden was due to smoking, obesity and low household incomes.This comes amidst rising concerns about the gender pain gap: that even though women experience more pain, their pain is still under-recognised and under-treated.Guest: Dr. Sadasivan S. Iyer, consultant and lead, pain medicine, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru and vice president of the Karnataka chapter of the Indian Society for the Study of PainHost: Zubeda HamidProducer and editor: Jude WestonFor more episodes of In Focus: Published - November 13, 2026 05:44 pm IST