Pain treatment in Poland can be more effective

Medexpress: More than 8 million people in Poland suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain is certainly a great challenge for doctors and modern medicine, because it often provokes depression, anxiety, cognitive disorders and sleep disorders. It is a problem not only for the patient, but also for the entire family. What kind of problem and what scale are we facing at the moment in Poland when it comes to chronic pain?

Prof. Tomasz Mandat: Chronic pain is a huge problem both socially and economically. It affects me more than one-fifth of the population, so in Europe it's up to 150 million and in Poland it's about 8 million people. Chronic pain also affects patients undergoing treatment for oncological reasons. It is estimated that about 30 percent of patients undergoing systemic treatment will suffer from chronic pain, that is, mainly neuropathic pain. The pain itself generates, of course, great discomfort for the patient, but it also affects family members. Their normal functioning is disrupted. Pain also affects the socio-economic situation of the family and the state (sickness absenteeism). The patient cannot work effectively. An additional problem is that chronic pain causes the development of new somatic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and neurological conditions. The problem is very complex and important from the socio-economic point of view of the country. It seems, due to its enormity, unresolved.

Medexpress: What does pain treatment look like in Poland at the moment?

Prof. Tomasz Mandat: Because of the scale of the problem, patien...