The Road to Pain Relief ......Series #1

Now more then ever, millions of people suffering from chronic pain need safe, effective products they can rely on.
By Sean Moloughney
Published October 1, 2010

Whether it’s aching knees, a bad back, a pounding migraine or the unrelenting effects of cancer, pain can be a debilitating quality of life issue that indiscriminately affects the physical and mental functioning of people from all walks of life.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), more than 76 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain—more than who suffer from diabetes (24 million), heart disease (23 million) and cancer (11 million) combined.

An estimated 46 million adults in the U.S. report some form of doctor-diagnosed arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus or fibromyalgia, according to the non-profit Arthritis Foundation. By 2030, that figure is projected to rise to about 67 million American adults. Interestingly, two-thirds of people who have doctor-diagnosed arthritis are under the age of 65.

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown of the joint’s cartilage. This breakdown causes the bones to rub against each other, resulting in stiffness, pain and loss of movement in the joint. Nearly 27 million adults have OA, a number expected to increase with longer life expectancies, the obesity epidemic and the first of the more than 78 million Baby Boomers reaching retirement age in 2011.

Pain is not an isolated health condition. While half of all adults will develop symptomatic OA of the knee at some point in their lives, that risk increases to two of every three obese adults. Weight loss of as little as 11 pounds reduces the risk of developing OA of the knee among women by 50%.

In 2003, the total cost attributed to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions in the U.S. was $128 billion (more than the GDP of New Zealand), up from about $86 billion dollars in 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those figures include $81 billion in medical expenditures (direct costs), up from $51 billion in 1997, and $47 billion in earnings losses (indirect costs), up from $35 billion in 1997.

According to a report from Business Insights, the global pain management market generated more than $46 billion in sales in 2007, a 12.5% increase over 2006. The most prevalent forms of neuropathic pain are neuralgia/fibromyalgia and lower back pain, with about 16 million cases for each condition during 2008. Analgesics (narcotics and non-narcotics) account for 43% of the global pain management market, with revenues of nearly $20 billion in 2007.

Citing a recent ABC News/USA Today/Stanford University Medical Center poll, Cheryl Myers, chief of scientific affairs and education for EuroPharma, Green Bay, WI, said more than half of Americans suffer from chronic or recurrent pain, and nearly half (46%) reported pain in the last two weeks. “That means the market for effective pain relief may be one out of every two Americans,” she noted.

Chris Haynes, director of sales, ESM Technologies, Carthage, MO, said there are plenty of opportunities in today’s market, which he believes is destined for future growth. “Pain is something everyone has at some level at certain points in their life. We can’t escape it. Showing consumers ways to get quick relief, naturally, with clinically proven results is the key to success.”

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