General Requirements: • A signed and irrevocable consent form from the patient or her legal guardians (parents) • Family relationship to the lipedema patient (1st to 4th degree) For lipedema patients: • Medical diagnosis of lipedema in accordance with the new S2k guideline • Family spanning at least 2 generations For healthy male and female participants: • No medical diagnosis of lipedema
- Impaired communication ability (language barriers, cognitive barriers, changes associated with dementia, …) - Conditions that affect the sensory nervous system (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, radiculopathy, injuries to nerves innervating the measurement area of various etiologies, peripheral polyneuropathies of various etiologies, diabetes mellitus, …) - Skin conditions affecting the measurement sites (e.g., psoriasis) - Topical application of analgesics to the measurement sites (e.g., patches, creams, etc.) - Other known alterations in pain perception or another diagnosed pain disorder - Diagnosed depression - Liposuction performed prior to study enrollment - Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Conducting a family study that quantifies the prevalence of lipedema within families. Specifically, changes in various sensory modalities including pressure pain thresholds and vibration detection thresholds will be characterized in women with lipedema and their family members (siblings, children, parents) compared to control subjects of similar height, using quantitative sensory testing. Which family members, and at what ages, exhibit altered sensory thresholds?