Chronic pain being considered a disease
SYDNEY (UPI) -- Chronic pain, which more than one-quarter of U.S. adults report suffering, should be considered a disease in its own right, an Australian expert says.
Dr. Michael J. Cousins of the Pain Management Research Institute at the University of Sydney says the concept that chronic pain is a disease in its own right is leading to new specific treatments aimed at physical, psychological and environmental components of this major disease.
"Chronic pain is different from acute pain," Cousins said in a statement. "If pain persists despite reasonable treatment from a primary care physician and other specialists, the advice of a pain medicine specialist should be sought. The earlier such help is obtained the greater the chance of returning to a reasonable range of life activities."
Cousins noted that too few pain medicine specialists are being trained and not enough pain patients have access to effective treatments.
"In the near future, diagnosis and treatment of persistent pain will be markedly different," Cousins said. "Drugs such as morphine that provide only symptomatic relief will be replaced by or supplemented with a new generation of therapies targeted at the disease process."
Cousins spoke at the 24th annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in Orlando, Fla.
Source:
Health & Fitness
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