At least 116 million Americans suffer from serious chronic pain, and for
many of them the suffering is not only undertreated, but is also preventable.
The information was revealed by new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM)
that addresses the outcry for help in what is described as a “public health
crisis” of pain.
There are countless sources of chronic pain that range from back pain and fibromyalgia
to arthritis, and from multiple sclerosis to
cancer. For the nation, the costs of the unending aching, throbbing pain are
great, as billions of dollars are sacrificed to cover medical costs, losses in
productivity, and time missed from work.
Chronic pain, by definition, is pain that continues for 30 to 60 days or
longer, and in many cases the long-term suffering can drag on for years.
Although the IOM has estimated the number of Americans who suffer from
chronic pain in excess of 100 million, the organization acknowledged that they
may have actually underestimated just how many people live with chronic pain.
This is because their data did not account for the millions living in such
environments as nursing homes, didn’t include members of the military, nor
could it include the numerous daily additions to this ever-increasing
population of people who hurt.
According to Dr. Philip Pizzo, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, and
chairman of report committee, one-third of Americans experience chronic pain. The costs
of the ailment, he noted, “Is more than we pay as a nation on cardiovascular
disease and cancer…. Pain is an experience that affects virtually every one of our citizens…and
can become a disease itself.”
The
report, titled “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming
Prevention, Care, Education, and Research,” points out the failure of the
nation’s health care system to adequately treat the masses who suffer from
chronic pain, and focuses on the need for a “cultural transformation” of the methods
by which the U. S. diagnoses and treats patients who deal with pain and it’s management.
Source:healthnews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment