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German pain price These antibiotics also worked against back pain
Around 80 percent of Germans suffer from back pain every now and again. Cause of the complaints are often a bad posture and too little exercise. Both natural and medical treatments are available to relieve the pain. Some patients can also use antibiotics. For this realization, a Danish researcher was awarded the German Pain Award.
Sometimes simple remedies for back pain are not enough
Back pain has become a true folk disease. Patients are usually advised not to be overly concerned about complaints, but rather to strengthen their backs through exercise. Warmth in the form of a hot water bottle or hot bath is also recommended. However, when the symptoms become severe and / or chronic, simple home remedies for back pain are often not enough. In some cases, the use of antibiotics may be useful here.
A scientist from Denmark has been awarded the German Pain Award for her studies on the treatment of back pain with antibiotics. Not all patients should be treated with medications. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com) Danish researcher awarded German Pain Award
Numerous health experts warn against resorting to rash medication for back pain, as it often does more harm than good.
But in some patients, the use of medicines makes sense. The Danish scientist Hanne Albert has now been awarded the German Pain Award for her revolutionary studies on the treatment of back pain with antibiotics.
"With her groundbreaking work, Hanne Albert has made lasting changes to pain-related thinking and created a new basis for understanding chronic back pain," Dr. Gerhard Müller-Schwefel, President of the German Society for Pain Medicine (DGS) in his speech in Frankfurt.
The 10,000 Euro prize is awarded annually to scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic pain.
Bacteria in the intervertebral disc
As explained by the DGS in a communication, about half of the patients with chronic low back pain have edema in the bone marrow, so-called "modic changes".
Albert was able to detect bacteria in more than 50 percent of the patients in the first examination in the tissue harvested after a herniated disc. Much of the tissue was infected with P. acnes.
This bacterium, which belongs to the natural oral flora, gets into the blood and finally into the intervertebral disc, for example, through minor injuries caused by tooth brushing, where they cause inflammation, bone edema and pain even after the herniated disc has healed.
Antibiotic use only in some patients
Therefore, the idea came up to test whether antibiotics can counteract the bacterial attack and thus also against the back pain of the patients. Already this first study showed significant results in the improvement - both the pain symptoms and the functional complaints of the patients.
Further investigations confirmed the result. First effects were seen after six to eight weeks and continued over a follow-up period of one year, in another study even over two years.
Despite the positive results, this does not mean that now all patients with low back pain should be treated with antibiotics.
"But those with" modic changes "that involve bacteria play a huge role," said Albert. "A revolutionary approach to pain medicine that could not only alleviate the suffering of millions of patients, but also save huge costs due to inability to work and early retirement," states the DGS Communication. (Ad)