Re: No Need to Endure Chronic Pain

[Guest guest]

Amen, a! This article is excellent. I hope everyone will take the

time to read it and check out the links at the bottom.

[ ] No Need to Endure Chronic Pain

> No Need to Endure Chronic Pain

> Fri Mar 1, 7:10 PM ET

>

> By Janice Billingsley

> HealthScoutNews Reporter

>

> FRIDAY, March 1 (HealthScoutNews) -- As many as 50 million Americans

> endure debilitating chronic pain every day.

>

>

>

> The good news is they don't have to suffer.

>

> " Chronic pain is a major epidemic, but people do not have to put up

with

> pain that is affecting their lives. There are remedies that can reduce

> the intensity of pain and improve functioning, both mentally and

> physically, " says Dr. Elliot Krames, a San Francisco anesthesiologist

> and a board member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM),

the

> primary professional organization for doctors treating pain.

>

> Krames says that as many as two-thirds of the approximately 75 million

> people who suffer from pain are not getting adequate pain treatment.

> Among the most common kinds of pain reported to doctors: persistent

pain

> after surgery, particularly in the back and neck; untreated arthritis,

> which generally affects the elderly; and neuropathic pain caused by

> diseases such as shingles.

>

> To bring awareness of the importance of pain treatment, Feb. 28 to

March

> 3 has been designated as the first National Pain Awareness Week by the

> AAPM and the National Pain Foundation (NPF), a non-profit group that

> provides peer-reviewed information and support to chronic pain

sufferers

> on the Internet. A pain conference will be held in San Francisco this

week.

>

> When it comes to chronic pain, you may have so adjusted your life

around

> your pain that you don't even recognize how compromised you have

become,

> Krames says. Perhaps you dress differently because you can't hook your

> own bra, or you don't cook dinner because you can't stay on your feet.

> Changes that are more serious can include quitting your job or

dropping

> out of school, or isolating yourself from your loved ones because

you're

> depressed.

>

> " There is often a loss of income, or people lose the relationship of

> loved ones who don't understand, " he says. " Pain becomes a disease in

> its own right. "

>

> Yet, many people do not get the treatment they need, Krames says. The

> reasons for this are varied, and, thankfully, slowly changing.

>

> " The number one myth that prevents people from receiving appropriate

> help is the belief that opiate use will inevitably cause addiction,

> which is absolutely not science, " he says, because doctors know how to

> properly prescribe medication.

>

> Also not true, he adds, is that people will need more and more

> medication over time because they build up tolerance to the

medication.

>

> Many doctors are also uneducated about how to assess and treat pain,

as

> medical schools give short shrift to the subject. Patients themselves

> can also resist medication, thinking pain is somehow necessary and

> " good " for them, Krames says.

>

> " But smart people are becoming more aware that pain can be treated.

> There are more articles in magazines and newspapers, and more and more

> information [that is now available about pain treatment], " he says.

>

> The medical community is also responding. The American Board of

Medical

> Specialties, which regulates courses of medical study, is looking into

> recognizing pain management as a primary specialty. In addition, the

> states of California, Texas and Florida have reevaluated their state's

> regulations to facilitate pain management treatment, he says.

>

> Finally, Krames says, " the medical industry is being turned on to the

> treatment of chronic pain. "

>

> This means that, in addition to traditional pain remedies like

analgesic

> opiates -- Oxycontin and Duragestic patches are the two most common --

> that decrease pain and improve function, companies have designed new

> drugs that specifically treat different types of pain. Also being

> developed and manufactured are implantable devices that can deliver

pain

> relief to say, the spinal cord, and new devices to deliver medication

to

> the body more efficiently.

>

> " Although the problem of under-treatment of pain has been widely

> reported, no one's really focused in on the specifics, " says NPF

> co-founder Dr. Rollin Gallagher. " People are paying attention because

of

> the convention. "

>

> The pain conference will host approximately 1,000 health professionals

> and will include reports on new research, available resources for pain

> management and the progress being made in providing treatment to

chronic

> pain sufferers.

>

> " We're trying to get people up to speed on the importance of treating

> pain, not only because under-treatment causes terrible pain, but

because

> it has a negative effect on health-care costs -- people stay in the

> hospital longer, diseases become worse if pain isn't treated, " he

says.

>

> What To Do: For doctor-approved information about pain management,

> including a chat room to talk with others who suffer from chronic

pain,

> visit the National Pain Foundation <http://www.painconnection.com/> .

> Very practical advice about how to rate your own pain level can be

found

> at Ohio State University Medical Center

>

<http://www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/osuhosp/patedu/homedocs.pdf/medicat

n.pdf/nondrug.pdf/paincontrol.pdf>

[Guest guest]

Dear June:

Can you tell me who Ed Keystone is? Also can you tell me your rheumy's name

and where she is located. Thanks

Sincerely, Colletti

Anjillah@...