Source: reuters.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Reuters Health) – Long-term use of prescription opioids for chronic \npain is more common among people who are overweight or obese, a new \nstudy finds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a group, these individuals are more likely to \nuse prescription opioids for pain in the back, joints, muscles and \nnerves, researchers write in the journal Pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Stokes of \nthe Boston University School of Public Health and colleagues analyzed \ndata for more than 25,000 participants in the National Health and \nNutrition Examination Surveys, ages 35 to 79, to understand the \nrelationship between obesity and prescription opioid use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall,\n in survey results from 2013-2014 and 2015-2016, 7% of participants \nreported prescription opioid use. Compared to people with a body mass \nindex (BMI) in the normal range, people with BMI in the overweight range\n had 11% higher odds of chronic prescription opioid use. Among people \nwith BMI in the overweight range, the odds of regular use of opioids for\n pain rose from being 26% higher to being 233% higher, with increasing \nseverity of obesity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
People in higher BMI categories were also more likely to use stronger opioids that were similar to morphine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obesity\n is one of the five major contributors to chronic pain, according to the\n Institute of Medicine. It raises risks for arthritis, back pain, \ndiabetes-associated nerve pain, fibromyalgia, and migraine, for example,\n though factors such as biomechanical strain on joints and chronic \ninflammation in the body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the current study, back pain was the\n most common reason reported for prescription opioid use in higher BMI \ncategories, followed by joint pain and muscle\/nerve pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\n researchers calculate that 14% of prescription opioid use is \nattributable to obesity. They estimate that each year in the U.S., 1.5 \nmillion fewer people would be chronic opioid users if obese individuals \nwere non-obese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the study authors acknowledge the difficulty of addressing this problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\n roots of the opioid crisis are complex and cannot to be reduced to any \nsingle factor,\u201d Stokes said. \u201cObesity has likely interacted with other \nfactors, such as drug oversupply and social and economic despair, to \nfuel high rates of opioid prescribing in the U.S.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A limitation \nof this study, he added, is that the survey included self-reported data,\n and it didn\u2019t include a question about prescription opioid dosages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOverweight\n and obesity have a strong association with seeking care for low back \npain and chronic low back pain,\u201d said Dr. Rahman Shiri of the Finnish \nInstitute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland. Shiri, who wasn\u2019t\n involved with this study, has researched the association between \nobesity and low back pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, Shiri told Reuters \nHealth, \u201cthere is little information on the prevention of low back pain \nwith weight reduction via lifestyle modification.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Source: reuters.com (Reuters Health) – Long-term use of prescription opioids for chronic pain is more common among people who are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[361,51,362,360,363,359],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weight-loss-gain","tag-contributes","tag-obesity","tag-opioid","tag-pain","tag-prescription","tag-related"],"yoast_head":"\n