The Role of Genetics in Chronic Pain

Most of our patients that we see in the clinic kind of cross that spectrum where they may have started for example even with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. We know there is a heritable component to fibromyalgia and some of the disorders of central pain processing. Are we any closer to understanding the genetic underpinning of these pathways and how can we put that into context for our patients? It turns out that a lot of chronic pain conditions are very familial and very hereditary.