Which will definitely spark controversyThe results of the study suggest that treating some forms of acute pain with anti-inflammatory drugs may actually increase the risk of that pain becoming chronic. =”PfUsGslq” title=”Wrong: Doctors Overhauled Some Pain Treatments” alt=”Wrong: Doctors Overhauled Some Pain Treatments” Wrong: Doctors Revisited Some Pain Treatments />
The first sign that something unusual was happening came when researchers saw widespread activity in immune-related genes in patients recovering quickly from acute back pain. These same genes were virtually inactive in patients who experienced longer-term chronic pain. In fact, it appeared that people who were less prone to chronic pain showed an increased inflammatory response when they were in acute pain.
This was unexpected since anti-inflammatory drugs are regularly used to treat low back pain, and years of evidence suggests that they do help reduce pain. But this first result suggested that suppressing the early inflammatory response to pain could lead to an increased risk of chronic pain. whether it really is. More specifically, the researchers focused on immune cells called neutrophils. They found that directly blocking the activity of these cells caused pain responses in animal models to last 10 times longer than in conventional controls.
Researchers understand that their findings are likely to generate controversy as the treatment of acute pain with anti-inflammatory drugs has been standard practice for decades.
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