Chronic Pain: A Whole-Person Approach Has a Whole Lot of Benefits

Identifying and engaging rising-risk populations in PROACTIVE CARE can be challenging, but targeting chronic pain may provide an effective entry point. By delivering benefits that address chronic pain early with evidence-based treatments, we can encourage self-selection, build trust, and improve adherence to broader PROACTIVE CARE strategies. Chronic pain often stems from a combination of external and internal factors, one of the most impactful being systemic inflammation linked to overweight and obesity. This creates a vicious cycle—more weight leads to more inflammation, more pain, and less activity, which further exacerbates obesity. Taking a whole-person approach that includes managing co-morbid behavioral and metabolic health conditions—and integrating medications like metformin for those with overweight or pre-diabetes—can enhance pain relief and lead to additional downstream health benefits, such as preventing type 2 diabetes. Notably, recent research shows that metformin significantly reduced knee pain in patients with overweight or obesity and osteoarthritis compared to placebo (Pan et al., 2025).

Pan F, Wang Y, Lim YZ, et al. Metformin for Knee Osteoarthritis in Patients With Overweight or Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. Published online April 24, 2025. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2833338