Recent government statistics have shown that about one in 10 U.S. adults suffer chronic pain that lasts a year or more.
However, life spans of Americans have increased to a record average of just short of 80 years, according to the annual report on the nation's health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC said, 'At birth, life expectancy for females is just over 80 years and nearly 75 for males. The gap in life expectancy between white and black Americans also has narrowed from seven years in 1990 to five years in 2004.' 'Life expectancy at birth reached a record 77.9 years in 2004, up from 77.5 in 2003 and from 75.4 in 1990.'
Unfortunately about a quarter of American adults also say that they have suffered a day-long bout of pain in the past month, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC.
The survey revealed that lower back pain was among the most common complaints in addition to migraine or severe headache, and joint pain, aching or stiffness.
Lead researcher, Amy Bernstein said, 'We chose to focus on pain in this report because it is rarely discussed as a condition in and of itself — it is mostly viewed as a byproduct of another condition.'
Over a quarter of adults interviewed said that they had experienced low back pain in the past three months. In addition 15 percent of adults were affected by migraines or severe headaches over the past three months, and while 4.2 percent of adults used a narcotic drug in the past month for pain relief.
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