Chronic pain is continuous, long-term pain, which can be caused by diseases like arthritis or by nerve damage. Pain affects millions of people world-wide and can be difficult to treat because of its long period medication and possible drug side-effects.
Professor Dr Khalid Masood Gondal, Head of the Surgery Department, Lahore General Hospital stated this while talking to Business Recorder, here on Wednesday.
According to him, joint pains and arthritis were common in Pakistan, and was caused by bacteria and disease such as tuberculosis, rheumatism and osteoarthritis. Joint replacement surgery is a very common operation performed in the west. Joint replacement simply means replacing a dead and painful joint with an artificial joint. A joint can be destroyed either by disease or by injury.
Professor Gondal maintained that a joint is formed when ends of the two bones come together. The smooth cartilage that lines the bone ends reduces friction. The joint also secretes oily fluid, which further reduces the joint friction. Any condition, be it a disease or an injury, which destroys this smooth cartilage will lead to pain and joint stiffness. When the joint cartilage is destroyed we have no option left but to replace it with an artificial joint.
He stated that arthritis is not an inevitable consequence of ageing, although nine in every ten people have it by the age of 60. Arthritis, which means inflammation (itis) of a joint (athron), a term used loosely to describe a whole host of problems affecting joints, bones and muscles, is not simply a 'wear and tear' degenerative disease that is unavoidable. Citing an example, he said in some African communities, whose people spend hours every day walking without shoes, arthritis is exceedingly rare.
He further said that severe arthritis is living hell and is probably responsible for more suffering than any other disease, including cancer and heart disease combined. It can even be life threatening. For all, arthritis means living with pain and stiffness.
He said in the United States alone, arthritis affects over 40 million people, disabling 1 out of every 6 sufferers.
To another question, Professor Gondal said irrational use of antibiotics is harmful to public health as it caused infections. He stated that pain killers must only be prescribed in peculiar circumstances, while self-medication of pain killers proves dangerous.
He was of the view that irrational use of pain killers also weakens resistance power in human body, thus exposed the victim to different infections including bacterial, viral and fungal. 'Those who are facing the problems of ulcer, kidney and hepatitis must avoid use of pain killers, as it may create more complications for them,' he warned.