"Almost half the adult population is living with chronic pain," the Daily Mail reports. A major new review suggests that around 28 million adults in the UK are affected by some types of chronic pain that lasts for more than three months. (Daily mail)
The researchers used data from 19 studies that included almost 140,000
adults which concluded the estimate of around 43% of people in the UK
experience chronic pain and the research found out that more adults aged 75 or
over (62%) experienced pain than younger ages 18 to 25 (14.3%).
It is likely that the prevalence of chronic pain will increase and the
need for pain management and relief will grow. A case could be made that health
services across the world need to do more to meet the needs of people with
chronic pain. Furthermore, chronic pain can cause considerable distress and
affect mental health.
Where did the story come from?
“The study was carried out by researchers from Imperial College London,
Arthritis Research UK and the University of Aberdeen. Funding was provided by
the British Pain Society and Arthritis Research UK.”
How did the researchers
interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that "Chronic pain affects between
one-third and one-half of the population of the UK, corresponding to just under
28 million adults, based on data from the best available published studies.
This figure is likely to increase further in line with an ageing
population."
The best
advice for chronic pain is to use a
combination of physical exercise and painkillers. People with persistent pain often think of
themselves as suffering from a specific ailment, whether it’s arthritis, back pain, migraines, or something else. But anyone who has experienced pain for several
months or longer also happens to be among the millions of people with a
condition known as chronic pain.
Individual pains varies, patients should be
able to describe how they are feeling, the area of pain, time and type of pain,
i.e. defining pain as sharp or dull, constant or on and off, burning or aching to
help Health professionals to have a clue to the cause of the pain. This
description is known as the pain history since there is no test to measure the
pain and how patients are feeling and to evaluate patient pain. Chronic pain may
occur in a variety of locations in the body and for many different reasons,
patients and their health professionals need to work together to identify the
causes and symptoms of that pain and how it can be relieved.
Although technology can help health professionals form
a diagnosis, the best treatment plans are tailored to the person, with input
from healthcare team members, who each have different training backgrounds and
understand chronic pain. The person with the pain and his or her loved ones
also must be actively involved in the treatment.
There are a number of treatment options available on the NHS for people
struggling with chronic pain, such as physiotherapy, pain management courses,
and counselling.
Source:
Where did the story come from?
How did the researchers interpret the results?
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