Dangers of painkiller drugs

Commonly prescribed painkillers need to be given for shorter periods of time to reduce the risk of obesity and sleep deprivation. Findings show that medications commonly used to treat pain, like gabapentinoids such as gabapentin, pregabilin and opiates, increased the risk of obesity and were associated with poor sleep.

Scientists assessed the cardio-metabolic health - the inter-relationship between metabolic and cardiovascular disease in many participants. Body Mass Index, waist circumference and blood pressure were compared between those taking painkillers for chronic, non-cancer pain and cardio-metabolic drugs, compared to those prescribed cardio-metabolic treatment only. Conditions that can require the use of this treatment include migraine, diabetic neuropathy and chronic lower back pain.

Findings of the new study show people on opiates and cardio-metabolic drugs reported 95% rates of obesity, 82% 'very high' waist circumference and 63% hypertension, as opposed to those on cardio-metabolic drugs only. Results suggest that chronic pain medications should be prescribed for shorter periods of time to limit serious health complications. Opioids are recognised as being among the most dangerous prescription painkillers because they are addictive which can lead to them being abused.

Patients can require continuous use of the drugs to feel normal and avoid symptoms of withdrawal.
In the last decade, the number prescribed has doubled and long-term use has become increasingly controversial as the medication causes sleep disorders, daytime sedation and accidental overdose.

There are a number of possible reasons why opioids can be associated with significant weight gain and obesity. For example, they can act as a sedative which makes patients less active and they have been shown to alter taste perception with a craving for sugar and sweet foods. Opioids are also known to worsen snoring and untreated sleep apnea, as well as causing problems with nocturnal hypertension.
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Causes of abdominal fat

Excess abdominal fat may be the result of excess consumption of sugar and simple white carbohydrates. However,
sleep deprivation, stress or wrong exercise can leads to abnormal fat.

Having abdominal fat increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart problems.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, plays a part in laying down central adipose tissue. You can avoid stress by engaging in yoga practice and mindfulness to your daily routine.

High-sugar diet can increase abdominal fat, cut down on sugar, saturated fats and white refined foods such as white bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, as they metabolise quickly, resulting in elevated blood sugar levels that promotes fat storage.

Eat more of lean meats, vegetables, fruits, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in nuts and avocados. Avoid eating fruit after a meal, as fruit can cause food to ferment in your stomach, leading to bloating and lots of gas.

Fat can play a vital role in weight loss, by slowing the release of nutrients into the bloodstream, add little fat to your meal. Hormonal disruption can affect fat distribution, seek medical help.
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Sleep and caffeine can reduce post operative pain

Sleep is essential for good mental and physical health, insufficient sleep increases the risk for several chronic diseases. Pre and postoperative sleep disturbances worsen pain. Caffeine in coffee and other beverages blocks the actions of adenosine in the brain. Adenosine is an endogenous sleep inducer.

Insufficient sleep enhances pain perception. Using a rat model of surgical pain, the research team tested whether prior sleep deprivation increases postoperative pain and caffeine blocks the increase in postoperative pain caused by sleep deprivation.

Researchers sought to identify a potential brain mechanism by which disrupted sleep worsens pain. The effect of sleep deprivation on pain sensitivity in operated and intact rats was virtually eliminated by pharmacologically blocking the action of adenosine in a brain region in the anterior hypothalamus known to regulate sleep, which is connected to major pain-related areas.

Extended wakefulness prior to surgery significantly enhanced postoperative pain behaviors and extended recovery time after surgery. Caffeine mitigate this effect. It blocked the increase in surgical pain caused by previous sleep loss.

 Caffeine might prevent the increase in pain sensitivity by blocking part of the neurochemical changes induced by sleep deprivation in specific brain areas that control sleep and wakefulness, and project to pain-related sites.
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Stress hormone may affect your health

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a wide range of processes throughout the body. It controls the body’s blood sugar levels, regulates
metabolism, it prevents inflammation, controls salt and water balance.

Blood levels of cortisol are high in the morning and fall throughout the day.  Steady daytime levels of the stress hormone cortisol are associated with health problems like inflammation, obesity and cancer.

Chronic stress may hinder variability of cortisol levels, this is known as stress-related circadian dysregulation.
Inflammation and the immune system dysfunction are the major cause of the loss of variation in cortisol levels.
Fatigue, cancer, depression, and obesity are associated with less variation in cortisol.

Viral infections, vigorous exercises, caffeine and sleep deprivation can cause abnormal increase in cortisol levels. Healthy lifestyle of regular exercise, sound sleep and eating healthy diet can restore cortisol rhythms.
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