Saying he sympathizes with the challenges faced by clinicians when trying to determine how best to treat pain in their patients, Dr. Bradley emphasizes the need for clinicians to be aware that many patients have an enhanced sensitivity to pain that appears to be biologically related.
“When one observes enhanced patient pain behavior that is not consistent with clinical findings, one must consider whether it is appropriate to provide recommended levels of medication or other treatments for pain,” he says.
“However, one must also consider that there are subgroups of persons who display enhanced pain sensitivity related to altered central nervous system function or other factors that are not yet identified,” he says, adding that he and his colleagues will continue to improve their understanding of ethnicity and pain to provide help to clinicians.
Mary Beth Nierengarten is a freelance medical journalist based in Minneapolis.
Resources
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