The END of PAIN

Pain is the most common reason individuals seek medical attention.
It is an unpleasant sensory experience associated with damage to

body tissues, organs, bones or muscles, or even an unpleasant emo-
tional experience related to psychological trauma. But the number

of people who experience chronic pain of one kind or another
will shock you: more than 100 million in North America alone.

What’s more, 40 million of these people do not respond to over-
the-counter pain medication. According to the National Institutes

of Health, the annual cost of chronic pain in the United States,
including health-care expenses, lost income and lost productivity,

is estimated to be about $100 billion. These numbers are all stagger-
ing, and as the population ages, all of these estimates are expected

to grow rapidly.