A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has uncovered significant differences in how men and women experience pain relief. The study indicates that men primarily rely on endogenous opioids, the body's natural painkillers, to alleviate pain. In contrast, women seem to depend on non-opioid pathways, which may explain their poorer response to opioid treatments. The research involved 98 participants who practiced meditation while undergoing pain stimuli, revealing that blocking the opioid system inhibited pain relief in men but increased it in women. This suggests that current pain management strategies may not be effective for women. The findings underscore the importance of developing sex-specific pain therapies to enhance treatment efficacy and reduce opioid dependency. The study was co-authored by several researchers and funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and other institutions.