Pain Management Research Institute Limited
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Mission Statement
To improve treatments for the one in five people living with chronic pain through basic and clinical research; and to educate health practitioners as to the appropriate application of those treatments.
About This Cause
Tha Pain Foundation helps raise funds for the research and education work performed by the Pain Management Research Institute (PMRI). The latter was set up in 1990 as a joint initiative between the University of Sydney and the Royal North Shore Hospital, inspired by the work and reputation of Professor Michael Cousins AM. Professor Cousins is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leaders in the study and the treatment of acute, chronic and cancer pain. PMRI is engaged in fostering education, basic and clinical research on the causes and treatment of all types of postoperative, cancer and severe persistent pain and is the only major multi-disciplinary pain centre in Australia – and one of the few in the world – to meet all the criteria of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The PMRI works closely with the Pain Management Research Centre which treats patients and with the ADAPT Pain Management Program which provides an intensive 3-week treatment program aimed at returning pain sufferers to a reasonable quality of life. The Institute is currently headed by Professor Paul Glare, Chair of Pain Medicine, Sydney University – Northern Clinical School and Director, PMRI. What is chronic pain? Chronic pain is severe pain that continues day after day, night after night, long after healing from an injury or surgery or other condition that has been treated as well as possible. Chronic pain has a devastating effect on all aspects of individual lives, indeed it effectively destroys quality of life. It also has a previously unrecognized and enormous impact on workplaces, families and communities. Such is that the erosion of quality of life that many patients contemplate suicide and some people proceed to carry it out, families can break up and financial ruin is common. What causes chronic pain? Cancer is a major, and often inadequately treated cause of severe chronic pain. However there are over 200 non-cancer conditions that are associated with chronic pain, including: • Ongoing pain after surgery • Pain after various types of injury • Continuing pain after an episode of shingles • Nerve damage pain associated with spinal cord injury • Chronic low back pain Unfortunately chronic pain can occur across all socio-economic groups in the community, all age groups and is a particular problem in the older age group because all degenerative diseases are associated with pain (i.e. severe osteoarthritis, severe blood vessel disease, etc.) Who suffers from pain? How does pain affect individuals and the community? In the working age population, one in five Australians has chronic pain – 3.2 million people. More women than men are affected. In the older age group, the prevalence becomes one in three. Almost all of the pain problems seen in adults of working age can also be seen in children, but the data about prevalence in children is inadequate at present. This is a very unsatisfactory situation since chronic pain in children can have catastrophic effects on their education and development, with large potential for ongoing problems in later life. What are the costs of chronic pain? The total cost of chronic pain in Australia is $34.3 billion per annum. This includes the healthcare costs, costs to the economy and other relevant costs. Access Economics produced a report in 2007 in conjunction with the PMRI and the MBF Foundation which detailed these staggering financial costs that effectively place Chronic pain amongst the five most costly healthcare problems in Australia. Of equal importance is the enormous cost in human suffering and disruption to families, workplaces and communities which is of a magnitude that parallels the huge financial costs. Why has it proved so difficult to effectively treat severe chronic pain? There has been no patient advocacy group and the data that was presented for the first time in 2007 via the Access Economics Report was not available. Groundbreaking work by the PMRI and other research groups worldwide has shown for the first time that chronic pain becomes a disease (like diabetes) regardless of the initial condition of the patient that may have triggered the pain. PMRI’s work has revealed that there are important changes in the nerves, spinal cord and brain which progressively become self-generating. Severe psychological and behavioural changes in response to pain have also come to light which contribute to the severity of the pain and greatly add to the patient’s suffering. The patient’s environment can also play a key role in perpetuating the ‘vicious circle’ of physical, psychological and environmental effects which are impossible for the patient to escape from, without expert help. Pain management as a human right In view of these huge financial and human costs Professor Cousins has started to advocate in recent years for Pain Management to be considered as a Fundamental Human Right. If one examines the UN Declaration of Human Rights, none of the human rights that are advocated can be enjoyed by people who have unrelenting severe pain day after day, night after night. Indeed the pain can be so severe that it destroys the patient’s autonomy so that it is impossible for them to make any of the important decisions in their life. How you can help The PMRI needs your help in order to accelerate its research capacity and thereby help more people who suffer from chronic pain. There are many people who feel that they have tried everything and feel absolutely desperate. PMRI Ltd was established in 1996 and serves as an independent fund-raising entity to augment the program of innovative research and education activities of the Institute. If you would like to help please visit the PMRI website at www.painmgtresearch.com - donations can be made online. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. PMRI Ltd has DGR and ITEC status. Other queries about how you can help should be addressed to: Shaan Verco Fundraising and Communications Manager Pain Management Research Institute Ltd Douglas Building, Royal North Shore Hospital St Leonards NSW 2065, Australia Phone: 02 9929 5566 Mobile: 0401 140 921 Email: info@painfoundation.org.au