15 – Mayo – 2013

Ovando Diaz Palmira

Teacher: Rosnay A. L.

Matter: English

Drugs for Pain, Fever, and Inflammation

A wide range of drugs are used to control pain. They range from mild over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, such as aspirin and acetaminophen, to strong general anesthetics. Drugs that relieve pain often reduce fever and inflammation (swelling), too. In this chapter, you’ll learn about drugs for pain, fever, and inflammation that are used to treat conditions such as: mild to moderate pain caused by injury or surgery, fever, headaches, and painful menstruation, rheumatoid arthritis (a chronic inflammatory disease of the peripheral joints), osteoarthritis (a chronic disease that involves wear and deterioration of joints in the body, causing inflammation) and chronic pain associated with cancer AIDS, multiple sclerosis, or sickle cell disease.

Nonopioid Analgesics, Antipyretics, And Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory are Drugs that control pain without causing the patient to lose consciousness is referred to as analgesics: Nonopioid analgesic drugs are drugs that are not derived from the opium plant. They do not cause physical dependence in patients. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are better known as NSAIDs. The body’s natural response to injury, irritation, or infection is inflammation. Signs of inflammation include redness, swelling, pain, and heat. Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the swelling and pain of inflammation.

Opioid Agonist And Antagonist Drugs The word opioid refers to derivatives of the opium plant (also known as opiates) or to synthetic drugs that imitate natural narcotics: Opioid agonists are controlled substances used to relieve or decrease pain without causing the patient to lose consciousness. These drugs are sometimes called narcotic agonists, Opioid antagonists are drugs that work against opioid agonists to block their effects and reverse adverse reactions, such as respiratory and CNS depression, produced by those drugs.

Management of pain is one of clinical medicine’s greatest challenges. Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensation that can be either acute or chronic and is a consequence of complex neurochemical processes in the peripheral and central nervous system. It is subjective, and the physician must rely on the patient’s perception and description of his or her pain. Alleviation of pain depends on the specific type of pain, nociceptive or neurogenic pain. In many cases, for example, with mild to moderate arthritic pain (nociceptive pain), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are effective.