Show ' recommend exercise based on research suggesting that physical activity may activate the endorphin system The most common relief comes Doctors often through medication COPING WITH PAIN -T- HATOL’ prescribe one of the two kinds of analgesics — narcotic or — depending on the type of pain such as aspirin work locally and frequently are given for the chron non-narcot- ic Non-narcoti- cs and headache Narcotics like morphine focus on the central nervous system If used properly they may be used effectively to control acute pain The drawback ic symptoms of mild arthritis GIANT KILLER By Ellen Bilgore nough people remember fear or live with pain as a daily com-t- o make its alleviation business in America today Chronic headaches strike 40 million Americans Fifteen percent of the adult UJ5 population have had persistent backaches at some point in their lives Approximately 20 million individuals experience arthritis pain Physical discomfort comes in two forms Acute pain — such as the kind a broken bone or toothache brings — is fierce but generally limited in duration and a sign that the body needs immediate help Chronic pain wrenching but because of its effects on both mind and change a person's attitude toward life Pain begins when cells are injured triggering the release of chemical substances that allow the sensation to travel through the nerve pathways to the spinal cord and then to the brain Hoe the signal is translated and realized Physical factors aren't the oily ones contributing to the sensation however fear anxiety and stress all influence the perception of pain and can hinder medical attempts to relieve it pain “People who have low-bac-k very often have an axe to grind" says Dr Thomas G Kantor clinical professor of medicine at New York University "They've been injured in an auto accident and if there’s litii are almost unbeatable until it has ed and the case is dosed” Occasionally being coddled by family or friends will encourage the patient to “prolong" his discomfort and avoid responsibility At the more than 800 pain dinics nationwide doctors routinely incorporate psychological help for chroniopain sufferers into their more traditional medical therapies Some use formal person-alit- y testing to ferret out a possible underlying cause of the pain More conventional diagnostic methods are also employed induding Krays i! V: and in recent yean thermography a process of detecting temperature changes in the skin which can indicate where pain originates An important advance on the research front of pain has been die discovery of a group called endorphins — the s own morphine When you rub an aching musde endorphins released by the brain help to make it feel better Whereas in the past rest was often the treatment for problems such as pain now physicians sometimes low-bac- FAMUrWEEKUrmMIIVMIIM III -- tehlt fwift tjfjt ANflCIR FAST PAIN RELIEF More Medicine k 11 |