How They Work:
No Appointment Necessary
Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, October 7 and November 25, 2007
Show 421
Dr. Lisa Thornton:
Have you ever wondered how pain medications know how to go where the pain is? It's a great question a lot of patients ask.
Sara Herman, PharmD:
Believe it or not, pain relievers have no idea which part of your body hurts. When you take aspirin, it dissolves in your stomach or small intestine. And then it's absorbed into your body through the bloodstream.
Dr. Lisa Thornton:
Right. And then the pain-relieving chemicals from the aspirin target the areas where something called prostaglandins are being made. These are chemicals released by your cells when they're damaged.
Sara Herman, PharmD:
And basically that's what pain is. It's your body's sensitive nerve endings reacting to the prostaglandin. The nerve endings transmit the pain through your nervous system and then to your brain.
Dr. Lisa Thornton:
And aspirin and ibuprofen interfere with that.
Sara Herman, PharmD:
Right. They actually prevent the cells from making and releasing prostaglandin. Which means the brain doesn't get the pain message and you feel less pain or no pain at all.
Dr. Lisa Thornton:
And that's what pain relief is all about. Thanks for the info Sara.