Emotional and physical pain in women with neurological pain related conditions:headache,fibromialgia and RLS.

Women are certainly more resilient than men, but seem to be more exposed to specific neurological disorders involving pain. At the same time, depression as an emotional burden is definitely more prevalent in females, contributing to lower their pain threshold. Fibromyalgia is almost an exclusively female symptoms consisting of a specific and overrepresented pain distribution having altered nociception, causing diffuse muscle ache, fatigue, anxiety and sleep disorders. Migraine is strongly related to the female hormonal reproductive cycle, often clustering in the menstrual or premenstrual period and decreasing its frequency after menopause. Comorbid conditions include anxiety/depression, hypertension, alimentary disorders and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). The latter is a sensory motor disorder due to a dopaminergic dysfunction consisting of parestetic feelings with consequent urge to move the limbs, occurring during rest, only or prevalently, with evening. Women are more affected than men with a 2:1 ratio, an earlier onset as for familial forms, decreased susceptibly to dopaminergic drugs and major impact on quality of life, sleep, anxiety and depression. Pregnancy or menopause may be precipitate or aggravate symptoms. Secondary cardiovascular consequences and hypertension prevail in females and are strongly related to the presence of depressive symptoms, with increase pain/discomfort perception. All of these disorders strongly compromise quality of life and social/work interactions leading to frequent absences at work and diminished frequent job opportunities.