PAIN, INFLAMMATION: Pain, the body's alarm system, is the most common symptom of disease, making analgesics (painkillers) the most commonly used drugs worldwide. Pain produces inflammation, a buildup of body fluids that serves to destroy or wall off toxins and injured tissue and carry immune-system cells to the site of the injury. Inflammation then produces more pain, by pressing on the nerves in the injured area. The buildup of free radicals at the pain site causes further discomfort.
To reach the cause of pain, a pain reliever would need to reduce inflammation by reducing local fluid levels and removing free radicals and damaged cells. But that is not how most analgesics work. Instead, they merely suppress the awareness of pain. This is equivalent to treating a fire by turning off the alarm, leaving the fire to burn down the barn. That doesn't mean painkillers don't serve necessary functions -- sometimes you seem to need them just to make it through the day or night. But where natural alternatives are available that treat the cause of pain, they're obviously preferable to drugs that merely mask it.
PHARMACEUTICAL PAIN RELIEF: Analgesics account for one fourth of the over-the- counter drug market. The market is divided between aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. Aspirin, the oldest analgesic (a naturally occurring form of the drug found in willow bark which was known to Hippocrates) , has been in pill form since 1899. Americans take about 80 million aspirin tablets a day, or about 117 tablets per person annually. This may be misleading, since 20% of users consume 80% of the drug.
Aspirin's effectiveness is derived from natural substances called prostaglandins. One called PGE2 alerts the body to disturbances in normal function by increasing the awareness of pain. Other prostaglandins contribute to the heat and swelling of inflammation and promote the coagulation of blood. Released when cells are injured or stimulated, prostaglandins can cause tissue damage themselves. Aspirin interferes with the body's biosynthesis of these prostaglandins, suppressing inflammation and the awareness of pain.
Other drugs in the aspirin group work the same way. Called nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs. Their drawback is that they fail to address the cause of pain, and prostaglandins have normal body functions (helping to regulate blood flow through the kidneys, and the filtration and excretion of sodium and toxins, and preventing acid production and damage to the stomach) that are being inhibited. The result can be life-threatening ulcers, fluid retention and the buildup of nitrogenous wastes in the blood. Aspirin should be avoided by pregnant women, newborns, ulcers, and blood clotting disorders.
Acetaminophen has fewer side effects and Tylenol is now the best selling analgesic in America. It won't reduce the pain associated with inflamed joints, but it is easier on the stomach lining than aspirin, and is therefore considered safer.
Consider vitamins C and B6, potassium, Boswellin and Turmeric as anti-inflammatories and Magnesium as a natural pain reliever. Also consider natural antioxidants Vitamin A, C, selenium.
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