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The care units accumulate delays and Health has reinforced the afternoon service at Servet. Eight million Spaniards, of whom more than 225.000 are Aragonese, suffer from chronic discomfort
Pain is intrinsic to human beings. It is that alarm voice that our body emits when it suffers an injury or something does not work correctly. However, there are pains that last months, years, decades, making life impossible for millions of people. It is estimated that around eight million Spaniards (between 17% and 20% of the population), of which more than 225.000 are Aragonese, suffer from chronic pain. Despite this, many do not receive an adequate response from medicine and society, which pushes them to suffer in silence, to isolate themselves from their environment, to leave their jobs and live practically at the command of pain, which becomes the baton of command of their lives.
The cultural heritage indicates that, in the face of pain, we must endure it. Some religions have established that life is a valley of tears and that suffering is redemptive. Parents tell their children, when something hurts, they say well, well and tell them that it will pass. And adults take an ibuprofen and move forward. Even for doctors, pain is useful to know the patient's problem and its intensity.
FIRST REASON FOR CONSULTATION
Years ago it was shared that the more pain, the more vitality the patient had. Hence, there have been no clinical studies on this major problem until recent history, despite the fact that the prevalence of chronic pain, pain that lasts more than three months, is higher than that of other better-known and analyzed diseases. In fact, it is the first reason for consultation in both primary and specialized care. And among older people, more than 70% suffer from persistent pain.
But medicine has arrived late to solve the pain. Although there is now a therapeutic arsenal and there are also pain units in many hospitals that manage to discharge numerous patients, this is not enough to relieve all those affected, nor has it evidently achieved a cure for many ailments. It is estimated that only 50% of patients achieve more than 50% relief in primary care, according to data from the Spanish Pain Society.
This group estimates that to meet the high demand it would be necessary to create 520 more units, to add to the existing 180, so that there would be one per hospital. Furthermore, only one in four has a complete multidisciplinary team, so there is still a long way to go.
