23andMe conduct at-home study on pain endurance and alleviation
Genetic testing company 23andMe is conducting its first foray into at-home research, as up to 20,000 people undertake a series of tests to determine pain thresholds. 23andMe is partnering with German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal for the study, which aims to "understand genetic factors associated with experiencing pain and response to medications that help alleviate pain", according to Carrie Northover, director of research services for 23andMe. Critics have questioned whether self-reported data collected outside a medical environment can be trusted.
“It was uncomfortable and slightly painful, but nothing like wearing wet gloves and shoveling snow for an hour at 10 below zero,” says Pardy, who lives in northwest Vermont. Most people can stand to keep their hands in near-freezing water for at least 100 seconds, according to 23andMe.

The experiment Pardy did is known as a cold pressor test, and it’s one of many used to gauge a person’s tolerance to pain. It’s part of a new study 23andMe announced earlier this month to study the genetic links of pain tolerance, and it represents the company’s first foray into at-home research.

23andMe has previously launched studies on medical conditions like depression, fertility problems, and irritable bowel disease, using surveys to ask participants about things like their health history, lifestyle, and diet (see “23andMe Pulls Off Massive Crowdsourced Depression Study”). The new study also includes two surveys about pain tolerance and pain history, but this is the first time the company has asked people to do an experiment on their own and report the results.

Carrie Northover, director of research services for 23andMe, says the goal of the study is to “understand genetic factors associated with experiencing pain and response to medications that help alleviate pain.” Previous research has suggested that multiple genetic factors are at play in chronic pain, and that certain groups of people report pain more often than others.

23andMe has around two million customers who have paid $99 to $199 to have a subset of their genes profiled when they provide a vial of their saliva. About 85 percent of those people have consented to have their data used for research, according to the company, allowing 23andMe to conduct large studies on the genetic underpinnings of certain traits and diseases (see “23andMe Sells Data for Drug Search”). A separate consent form is required from people who participate in the pain study, which Pardy says he wanted to do because he suffers from back pain. He says he’d love a cure, rather than just medication to manage it.

Northover says they plan to enroll 20,000 Americans to take the two pain surveys and hope to get 10,000 of those to complete the cold pressor test over the next year. She didn’t give much detail on what 23andMe will do with the data, other than to say the results “may help develop a more personalized approach to pain medication.” 23andMe has partnered with German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal for the study.

Ajay Wasan, vice chair for pain medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says the cold pressor test is only one way to measure pain. There are a range of other tests, including ones that measure a person’s tolerance to heat, pin pricks, and pressure.

“The problem is no one single experimental pain test maps really well to overall pain sensitivity and doesn’t have high correlation to someone’s clinical chronic pain or their response to treatment,” he says.