North-South England divides pain: Northerners are more likely to suffer from chronic discomfort

Shocking data reveal the existence of a North-South "pain fracture" in England.

According to a study published today, 43% of Northerners suffer from pain that lasts more than three months, 38% more than London residents.

Northerners are also 32% more likely to experience "severely limiting" discomfort that affects their daily lives than their counterparts in the South.

In addition, controversial opioid pain medications are 38% more likely to be prescribed in the North, despite the lack of evidence that they work in the long term and fears of an upcoming "opioid epidemic" such as the one that has hit the United States.

Opioids, which often drive addicts to experiment with illegal drugs such as heroin, have caused more deaths from accidental overdose than any drug in the history of the United States.

Scientists from the University of Newcastle analyzed data from a survey conducted in 2011 by the National Center for Social Research.

The survey asked 5,711 participants if they had pain and, if so, whether they persisted for more than three months, which was considered chronic. They were then asked to rate their pain on a scale of one to ten.

The researchers then assessed participants' pain from zero to four, the latter being defined as "severely limiting" discomfort.

Any use of opioids was also recorded in the survey.

North of England was defined as the Northeast, Northwest and Yorkshire and Humber regions.

London, East of England, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the South East and the South West constituted the south of the country.

The results, published in the BMJ Open, suggest that chronic pain is the worst in the northeast, where 43.1% of residents suffer, compared with 29% in London.

On average, 36.7% of people living in the north suffer from chronic pain, compared to 35% of southerners.

Northerners are also 32% more likely to experience "severely limited" pain than southerners and 37% more likely to experience "moderate" pain on a daily basis.

The findings further suggest that opioids are 38% more likely to be prescribed to manage pain in the north, with severe people being 47% more likely to be dependent on drugs.

Rather than limit the use of opioids to inappropriate prescriptions, the researchers concluded that drugs are probably more widely used in the North because of the increased need for pain relief.

This need may be due to certain conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease, being more prevalent in the north of England.

Although northerners would need greater pain relief than their southern counterparts, scientists insist that opioids must be carefully prescribed to prevent the epidemic that is raging in the United States. United.

The death rate due to opioid abuse has quadrupled in the last 15 years in the states.

Not modifying prescription habits could also worsen the prevalence of pain. This is due to evidence suggesting that opioids relieve discomfort in the short term but could worsen the pain if they are used continuously.

Chronic pain already costs about £ 12 billion a year to the UK economy.

The lead author, Dr. Adam Todd, said, "To develop future strategies and avoid a potential" opioid epidemic ", as in the United States, it is important to take into account the following: other ways to manage chronic pain.

"Given our findings, there is still much to be done – at the national level – to help prescribers manage people with chronic pain, without the need to initiate opioid analgesics.