National Pain Awareness Week: Nader Ghasemlou speaks to his new study linking pain rhythms and lower opioid use
November 3, 2025
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As Canada marks National Pain Awareness Week, new research led by Queen鈥檚 University's Nader Ghasemlou is shedding light on how our body鈥檚 internal clock may hold clues to reducing opioid use among people living with chronic pain.
The study reveals that individuals whose chronic low back pain follows a daily rhythm are less likely to use opioids and report better sleep and mood. The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, also point to distinct immune responses tied to circadian rhythms 鈥 the body鈥檚 24-hour clock 鈥 suggesting that timing may play a key role in how we experience and manage pain.
Supported by the Chronic Pain Network and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, the study was co-led by patient partners living with chronic pain, ensuring that lived experience helped shape every stage of the research.
Key points:
鈥 Participants with 鈥渞hythmic pain鈥 patterns reported no opioid use and improved overall well-being.
鈥 Their immune profiles showed time-of-day variations linked to circadian rhythms.
鈥 The Queen鈥檚 team is launching a clinical trial to test rhythm-based therapies for better pain care.
To interview Nader Ghasemlou, contact:
Julie Brown, Media Relations Manager brown.julie@queensu.ca | 343-363-2763