A study found that treating pain with anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or aspirin may promote pain in the long run. As this is contrary to traditional treatment, it is expected to be controversial.
In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers at McGill University in Canada found that inflammation, a normal part of injury recovery, can help relieve acute pain and prevent it from becoming chronic. Preventing inflammation can lead to pain that is difficult to treat. This was reported by WebMD.
“What we’ve been doing for decades seems wrong,” said Jeffrey Mogill, a professor of psychology at McGill University and lead study author.
Researchers have found that neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) appear to play an important role when some have looked at pain mechanisms in humans and mice to determine the cause of persistent pain.
“By analyzing the genes of people suffering from low back pain, we observed that the genes actively changed over time in people who had no pain,” said Ruda Diachenko, chair of the Canadian Human Pain Genetics Study. looks like,” he said.
When the researchers blocked the neutrophils in mice, they found that the pain lasted 2 to 10 times longer than normal. Anti-inflammatory drugs relieved short-term pain, but had the effect of prolonging the pain. A separate analysis of 500,000 people in the UK found that people taking anti-inflammatory drugs were more likely to experience pain 2 to 10 years later.
“Inflammation happens for a reason, and disrupting it seems dangerous,” said Dr Mogill. “We need to rethink how we treat pain.” Taking pain relievers that do not block neutrophils, such as acetaminophen, may be better than taking anti-inflammatory drugs or steroids.
“A clinical trial that directly compares anti-inflammatory drugs with other analgesics is needed,” he said. “This study may pave the way for the development of new drugs for chronic pain patients.” A new pain reliever is needed.
By Kim Hye-won, staff reporter [email protected]
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