London, Dec 7 (PTI) Regular use of commonly prescribedpainkillers may double the risk of developing obesity andcause sleep deprivation, a study has warned.
Over the past 10 years, there has been a large increasein the prescription of medications such as opioids and someantidepressants for chronic pain management.
Researchers from the Newcastle University in the UKunveiled the serious impact of these medications andhighlights the need to reduce their use.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE, showthat medications commonly used to treat pain, likegabapentinoids such as gabapentin, pregabilin and opiates,doubled the risk of obesity and were associated with poorsleep.
Scientists assessed the cardio-metabolic health – theinter-relationship between metabolic and cardiovasculardisease - in more than 133,000 participants from the UKBiobank.
Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference and bloodpressure were compared between those taking painkillers forchronic, non-cancer pain and cardio-metabolic drugs, comparedto those prescribed cardio-metabolic treatment only.
Conditions that can require the use of this treatmentinclude migraine, diabetic neuropathy and chronic lower backpain.
In 2016, 24 million opiates prescriptions were issued inthe UK, exactly double the amount of 2006. Two years ago,11,000 patients were admitted to hospital due to an opiateoverdose.
The study shows that people on opiates and cardio-metabolic drugs reported 95 per cent rates of obesity, 82 percent 'very high' waist circumference and 63 per centhypertension, as opposed to those on cardio-metabolic drugsonly.
The results suggest that chronic pain medications shouldbe prescribed for shorter periods of time to limit serioushealth complications.
"In the last two decades there has been a significantincrease in the number of people being prescribed both opioidand non-opioid medications to treat chronic pain," said SophieCassidy, research associate at Newcastle University.
"However, this is the largest study looking at the linksbetween commonly prescribed painkillers and cardio-metabolichealth," said Cassidy.
"We already know that opiates are dependency-forming butthis study also found patients taking opiates have the worsthealth. Obesity rates are much higher and the patientsreported sleeping poorly," she said.
Opioids are recognised as being among the most dangerousprescription painkillers because they are addictive which canlead to them being abused. Patients can require continuous useof the drugs to feel normal and avoid symptoms of withdrawal.
In the last decade, the number prescribed has doubled andlong-term use has become increasingly controversial as themedication causes sleep disorders, daytime sedation andaccidental overdose. PTI MHN SARMHN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.