Chronic pain should be considered a disease

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Chronic pain should be considered a disease

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/aaop-cps021508.php

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, including genetic

predisposition, according to a world renowned pain medicine expert.

J Cousins AM, MD, DSc, professor and director of the Pain

Management Research Institute at the University of Sydney, Royal

North Shore Hospital, in Australia, presented the Decade of Pain

plenary session on February 14, 2008, at the 24th Annual Meeting of

the American Academy of Pain Medicine at the Gaylord Palms in

Orlando, Florida.

" Chronic pain is different from acute pain, " explained Dr.

Cousins. " 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. "

According to the National Center for Health Statistics more than one-

quarter of Americans (26%) age 20 years and over - or, an estimated

76.5 million Americans - report that they have had a problem with

pain. Studies from the Pain Management Research Institute reveal an

annual cost of $1.85 billion per 1 million people.

The Future of Pain Management " In the near future, diagnosis and

treatment of persistent pain will be markedly different, " Dr. Cousins

stated. " 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. "

The availability of new treatments may challenge the medical system.

Dr. Cousins noted that too few pain medicine specialists are being

trained and not enough pain patients have access to effective

treatments.

" Pain management needs to become a fundamental human right: a bundle

of initiatives will be needed in Medicine, Law, Ethics, Politics, "

concluded Dr. Cousins.

Dr. Cousins also addressed the genetics of pain and brain imaging

research.

Dr. Cousins has been the driving force in Australia, as well as

internationally, in drawing attention to evidence that shows that

severe persistent pain becomes a " disease entity " and has also

championed the concept of pain relief as a basic human right.