Pain: A Prevaling Part of Daily Life?

Severe and lasting physical pain drains quality of life.  Richard L. Nahin, from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes of Health (Maryland, USA), published an analysis of data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, estimating that 25.3 million US adults (11.2%) had pain every day for the preceding 3 months. Nearly 40 million Americans (17.6%) experience severe levels of pain – which commonly linked to a worsened health status.  Pain is one of the leading reasons Americans turn to complementary health approaches such as yoga, massage, and meditation – approaches that aim to manage pain and other symptoms that are not consistently addressed by prescription drugs and other conventional treatments.