MUHAMMAD SALEEM
LAHORE: Generally pain acts as a warning sign that there is something wrong with the body. To avoid all types of pains, regular exercise mainly walk and a healthy diet with positive thinking is necessary.
Dr Ateeq Ur Rehman Ghafoor, Consultant in Pain Medicine & Anesthesia, said this while talking to media personnel at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and research Centre (SKMCH&RC).
According to him, “Pain itself is not a disease. Some do call it as a 5th vital sign. Basically, it is a protective mechanism in the body that tells us something is wrong. But unfortunately not all pains are our friends. So there are conditions where the main manifestation is pain. You may call them at times, a disease. In short, pain is the most annoying symptom in mankind history.”
He said: “Pain management means to manage those pains in the body which may or may not have a reason for being there. Another reason is any surgery or treatment due to which the body starts having various pains during or after the treatment which again may or may not have reason for being present in the body. Thus in such conditions, these patients are left with no option but to have pain management. This is not a treatment but managing the pain.”
According to him, among chronic pains the most common is the back or spine pain. About 70 to 75 % of the cancer patients that come to pain clinic come with a backache. There are many reasons for it, the most common being the bad posture. People who have a sitting job, especially in front of the computer, generally sit leaning forward which causes back pain. To avoid it, one must change the sitting posture. Another way to avoid it is to get up after every half an hour or so and take a five minute walk to give the back a rest.
Another common pain, he said, is of the neck and head. Generally the pain in joints comes after the age of 50. About 70 to 75 % of the cancer patients come to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital with pain. With the passage of time, this pain increases to unbearable levels. Unfortunately, many medicines or the type of treatment used in the cure of cancer are also the cause of such pains. The first thing that comes to mind when one gets to know about cancer is pain. Cancer and pain go hand in hand unfortunately, he added.
According to him, a major issue is the unavailability of such medicines in Pakistan which are globally used in the treatment of cancer. Time and again we have discussed this issue with DRAP (Drug regulatory authority of Pakistan) and its associated departments, but to no avail. The process of ensuring the availability of such medicines is very long and by the time these medicines become available it is too late for the patients needing them.
