Painkillers such as aspirin 'do more harm than good' for chronic primary painPainkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin and opioids can do “more harm than good” and should not be prescribed to treat chronic primary pain, health officials have said. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said there was “little or no evidence” the commonly used drugs for chronic primary pain made any difference to people’s quality of life, pain or psychological distress. Chronic primary pain is a condition in itself that cannot be accounted for by another diagnosis or as a symptom of an underlying condition, Nice said. It is characterised by significant emotional distress and functional disability with examples including chronic widespread pain and chronic musculoskeletal pain. It also recommends that some antidepressants can be considered for people with chronic primary pain.

Source: The Guardian August 03, 2020 22:13 UTC