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An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management.Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in some instances eliminate, sensation, although analgesia and anesthesia are neurophysiologically overlapping and thus various drugs have both analgesic and ...
"Strength" is defined as analgesic potency relative to oral morphine. Tolerance, sensitization, cross-tolerance, metabolism, and hyperalgesia may be complex factors in some individuals. Interactions with other drugs, food and drink, and other factors may increase or decrease the effect of certain analgesics and alter their half-life.
Analgesics are a class of biochemicals that cause hypoalgesia. Analgesics can act on both the peripheral and central nervous systems to decrease pain. Certain analgesics also work to decrease the source of the pain by working to decrease swelling and inflammation, as in the case of NSAIDs .
"Pain ladder", or analgesic ladder, was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a guideline for the use of drugs in the management of pain. Originally published in 1986 for the management of cancer pain , it is now widely used by medical professionals for the management of all types of pain .
The hot plate test is a test of the pain response in animals, similar to the tail flick test.Both hot plate and tail-flick methods are used generally for centrally acting analgesic, [1] while peripherally acting drugs are ineffective in these tests but sensitive to acetic acid-induced writhing test.
Opioids are effective analgesics in chronic malignant pain and modestly effective in nonmalignant pain management. [66] However, there are associated adverse effects, especially during the commencement or change in dose. When opioids are used for prolonged periods drug tolerance will occur.
An analgesic adjuvant is a medication that is typically used for indications other than pain control but provides control of pain in some painful diseases. This is often part of multimodal analgesia , where one of the intentions is to minimize the need for opioids.
In clinical trials, the MOR is the main target of opioid ligand binding. While binding of the opioid to the MOR typically causes analgesia, there can be instances where hyperalgesia occurs. [20] It has been speculated that the opposite analgesic and hyperanalgesic effects are due to different isoforms of the receptor.