Each of us has experienced pain several times in our lives. It is often a warning signal that our body sends us in case of danger, like, for example, the burn we feel when we put our hand on a stove that is too hot and that makes us instantly withdraw our hand. Pain can also be a sign of overwork (e.g. back pain) or even illness. It must therefore be considered as a natural phenomenon and even essential to our survival. Generally, acute pain is easily treated by eliminating its causes.

In any case, when our organism is happy, joyful, fulfilled and balanced, our brain
secretes endorphins which are natural painkillers meant to soothe various pains.

This production can be slowed down or activated by various factors, such as stress, pollution, environment or diet.

Among the frenemy factors, the best known are:

• Coffee, which contains substances that prevent the formation of endorphins.
• A copper deficiency prevents the sufficient secretion of encephalins (a type of endorphins).

Other factors will improve well-being:

• Tryptophan-rich carbohydrates increase pain tolerance because tryptophan enhances the effects of endorphins. But be aware that tryptophan-rich foods will be more effective if you avoid protein 90 minutes before and after your meal.
• Your body's levels of stress hormones that affect your response to pain are dependent on adequate intracellular calcium and magnesium.

Pain and Disease.

By definition, pain becomes chronic when it persists for more than three months. In the case of chronic untreated or insufficiently treated pain, there is a continuous transmission of painful messages to the spinal cord, which relays them to the brain through sensory nerve fibers. Eventually, the nervous system registers this painful circuit and thus a kind of pain memory is created i.e., the sensory nerves involved become overly sensitive and begin to signal even minimal messages to the brain, such as a simple touch or slight heat. In this case, the pain loses its function as an alarm signal and becomes a disease in its own right.

Therefore, it is essential to treat pain correctly and quickly

It is important to know that currently 10% of the French population suffers from chronic pain due to various health problems such as rheumatism, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, back pain, neuralgia, muscle tension, spasms or tendonitis.

In all cases, the origin of the persistent pain must be checked. In fact, certain increasingly common pathologies such as fibromyalgia, spasmophilia, etc. are still unfortunately often ignored or not diagnosed by many doctors and therapists.

Unfortunately, the classic solutions offered by anti-inflammatory drugs, regardless of the route of administration (even suppositories), are as numerous in name as they are in side effects and undesirable effects.

These side effects are directly related to the action of these chemicals on prostaglandin synthesis.

The digestive side effects, by far the most frequent (stomach ache, nausea, difficult digestion, diarrhea), are not particularly serious, although often painful and unpleasant.

The major digestive side effects (peptic ulcers, digestive hemorrhages, perforations), fortunately less frequent (1/1000 patients per year), are much more serious.

The use of anti-inflammatory drugs multiplies the average risk of ulcer-bleeding-perforation by 2.5 and the risk of death from gastrointestinal causes by 5.

Pain: did you say allopathy danger? An example among others!

In September 2004, the Merck laboratory, which manufactures an anti-inflammatory drug called Vioxx, announced that it was withdrawing its product from the market because it had been shown to be dangerous to health by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the United States, it is estimated that between 1999 and 2003, this anti-inflammatory drug was responsible for 27785 heart attacks or deaths. Since then, doubts have arisen about other anti-inflammatory drugs. Indeed, in June 2005, a publication of the British Medical Journal suggested that all classical anti-inflammatory drugs could be the cause of cardiovascular complications. In this investigation, a control population was compared with a group of patients who had a first heart attack between August 2000 and July 2004. The authors find that heart attack victims used anti-inflammatory drugs more often than other subjects and that the risk of heart attack varied with the type of drug. For example, the risk of cardiovascular accident is increased by 55% by taking Voltarene®, 32% by taking Vioxx®, 24% by taking Advil® and 21% by taking Celebrex®.

The French Health Products Safety Agency (Afssaps) reminds us that, "The use of anti-inflammatory drugs must be in compliance with their indications and precautions for use. Their prescription must take into account the risks associated with the use of this type of medication, particularly the digestive risk. Treatment should be administered at the minimum effective dosage for the shortest possible duration."

Do our physicians remember and heed this advice?