Jeffrey Mogil, Audrey Grant, Carolina Meloto and Luda Diatchenko have recently published a scientific article on the beneficial effect of the inflammatory response against the development of chronic pain.
Anne Marie Pinard speaks on the subject in this Radio Canada press article.
Marc Parisien and colleagues Jeffrey Mogil, Audrey Grant, Carol Meloto and Luda Diatchenko followed 98 people who attended a pain management clinic for acute back pain. Their goal was to compare data from those whose back pain resolved to those whose pain became chronic.
Their team showed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase the occurrence of chronic pain. This increase seems to be linked to neutrophils (white blood cells). To better understand these results, the team continued their analysis in mice. They then wanted to verify their findings in a larger population sample. This allowed them to show that participants who take NSAIDs for pain are more likely to experience chronic pain two to ten years later.
According to Anne Marie Pinard, “the idea that blocking inflammation can interfere with pain healing is not totally new, but the way they bring it forward with such striking evidence is interesting. However, more specific studies would be needed to confirm the findings and perhaps move toward the development of new treatments or practices.
