Painkillers, Analgesics

Painkillers, Analgesics

Eliminate or reduce the sensation of pain. These include medicinal substances with different chemical structures and mechanisms of action.

The main place among them is occupied by the so-called analgesics (analgesics), which relieve pain as a result of a predominant effect on the nervous system. There are narcotic and non-narcotic analgesics. Narcotic drugs include morphine preparations (morphine, omnopon) and its synthetic substitutes (promedol, fenadone, fentanyl, etc.). Narcotic analgesics suppress various pain sensations, including very severe pain that occurs due to injuries, burns, myocardial infarction, etc.

Drugs in this group also have a pronounced effect on the psyche, weakening negative emotions associated with pain (fear, anxiety, depression) and creating a feeling of physical and mental comfort and well-being (so-called euphoria).

Along with this, with repeated administration of narcotic analgesics in the same dose, addiction develops (decreased sensitivity to them), in which their analgesic effect is weakened and a subsequent increase in the dose of the analgesic can lead to a painful addiction - drug addiction. Therefore, narcotic analgesics are strictly controlled and indications for their use are limited. The use of narcotic analgesics without a doctor's prescription is considered a criminal act and punishable accordingly.

Non-narcotic analgesics include synthetic drugs of various chemical structures (acetylsalicylic acid, amidopyrine, analgin, phenacetin, paracetamol, etc.). Compared to narcotic analgesics, they have less analgesic activity and are effective mainly for pain resulting from inflammatory damage to various organs and tissues (toothache, pain due to arthritis, myositis, neuritis, etc.).

In addition to the analgesic effect, non-narcotic analgesics cause an antipyretic effect (see Antipyretics), and many of them also have an anti-inflammatory effect (see Anti-inflammatory drugs).

You should not take these medications without a doctor's prescription. There are known cases of dangerous hematopoietic disorders caused by long-term independent (without medical supervision) use of drugs such as analgin, amidopyrine, butadione, phenacetin. Systematic uncontrolled use of salicylic acid preparations (for example, acetylsalicylic acid and sodium salicylate) can cause damage to the gastric mucosa, accompanied by bleeding, as well as tinnitus, hearing impairment, worsening the course of certain diseases (for example, bronchial asthma), etc.

Various medications that do not belong to the group of analgesics can also have an analgesic effect. Thus, pain associated with spasm of the smooth muscles of internal organs is reduced under the influence of antispasmodics, that is, agents that relax smooth muscles - atropine, belladonna preparations, papaverine, no-shpa, etc.; for pain arising as a result of vascular spasm, accompanied by impaired blood supply to certain organs, vasodilators are effective, in particular, pain during angina pectoris is relieved by drugs that improve blood circulation in the heart (validol, nitroglycerin), headaches associated with increased blood pressure - by antihypertensive drugs; for abdominal pain caused by the accumulation of gases in the intestines, so-called carminatives are effective, promoting the release of gases from the intestines, or carbolene, a drug that absorbs them. The action of these drugs is aimed at eliminating the cause of pain.

To use painkillers effectively, you must consult a doctor to determine the cause and nature of the pain.