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American Morning

'House Call'

Aired September 26, 2003 - 09:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For more than 80 million Americans, pain is a chronic problem. Dr. Sanjay Gupta here with more on this pervasive disease and how to manage it, the key there being manage.
Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, you know, out of all the stories we do, the health stories, I think chronic pain and pain overall, one of the most e-mailed stories we get a lot of people concerned about this. Over half the country experiencing chronic pain just this past year. I think the number's about 57 percent, all sorts of different reasons for pain. As you mentioned, pain can be a very vague thing. When you describe pain, you're describing for example, if you describe a car. What the doctor really wants to know is the color of the car, what model it is, how new and how old, and oftentimes, those are the most difficult things for patients to convey to their doctors, which is why it makes it so pervasive, which is why it makes it so underdiagnosed as well.

The three most common types of chronic pain, and I'm going to define that for you as well. The three most common types really back pain, headaches and arthritis joint pain. No surprise there. If the pain is lasting more than six months, though, that's probably more of a problem. That is how they define chronic pain, pain that is unrelenting, doesn't go away. Pain certainly is a signal that there is something wrong with the body, but sometimes that pain can get out of control.

HEMMER: You mention six months there. By no way, is that a timeframe that sets up the next question, but when do you know that the pain is enough that you have to go see someone and get it taken care of?

GUPTA: And that's a really important question, because a lot of people self-medicate, treat their back pain, their headaches, for example, on their own.

But the question, when do you go see a doctor. When it comes to back pain, for example, there are some specific things. If your pain is starting to be not only back pain, but also leg pain, the pain is actually shooting down your leg, or if you're having troubles with your bowel and bladder, it is time to go see a doctor about that pain, you might have a surgical problem.

With headaches, 97 percent of people actually treat headaches on their own. But again, if the pain is unrelenting, despite the fact that you're taking medications, even over-the-counter medications for those, it may be time to go see a doctor. Unrelenting meaning if the pain is lasting for a couple of weeks at a time. It is amazing. People come to the hospital sometimes and say, I've had this headache for two weeks, it's never gone away. That's a problem. That's certainly a reason to go see a doctor.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sometimes they're afraid to go, because the doctor might tell them, oh, it's your imagination, it's just stress.

GUPTA: Right, and I think that's also a problem. Doctors are getting better about treating pain. Pain was not really a large part of the curriculum as a medical student either.

HEMMER: Really?

GUPTA: Yes, really fascinating. You learn how to treat the various problems on a scientific level, but to actually be able to treat the pain, the symptoms that are associated with these problems, not a large part of the curriculum when I went to medical school, becoming larger now.

COSTELLO: Weekend house call?

GUPTA: Yes, we're talking about actually this topic, weekend house call. We get a lit bit more time, about a half an hour, to delve into this particular topic. That's going to be on Saturday. And also Sunday, what we were talking about before, you and I Carol, about the wavefront Lasik surgery. We'll talk about that, as well, both those this weekend.

COSTLLO: Yes, and also the implantable contact lenses.

GUPTA: You're excited about that?

COSTELLO: Bill is. I'm exciting. I think that's amazing.

HEMMER: I can't wear contacts. The stigmatism is too severe in my eye. It doesn't fit and stick.

GUPTA: Fit and stick, a new term.

HEMMER: I've got to wear glasses, going blind by the day.

COSTELLO: Oh, geez.

HEMMER: Sanjay, have a great weekend.

GUPTA: All right. Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 26, 2003 - 09:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For more than 80 million Americans, pain is a chronic problem. Dr. Sanjay Gupta here with more on this pervasive disease and how to manage it, the key there being manage.
Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, you know, out of all the stories we do, the health stories, I think chronic pain and pain overall, one of the most e-mailed stories we get a lot of people concerned about this. Over half the country experiencing chronic pain just this past year. I think the number's about 57 percent, all sorts of different reasons for pain. As you mentioned, pain can be a very vague thing. When you describe pain, you're describing for example, if you describe a car. What the doctor really wants to know is the color of the car, what model it is, how new and how old, and oftentimes, those are the most difficult things for patients to convey to their doctors, which is why it makes it so pervasive, which is why it makes it so underdiagnosed as well.

The three most common types of chronic pain, and I'm going to define that for you as well. The three most common types really back pain, headaches and arthritis joint pain. No surprise there. If the pain is lasting more than six months, though, that's probably more of a problem. That is how they define chronic pain, pain that is unrelenting, doesn't go away. Pain certainly is a signal that there is something wrong with the body, but sometimes that pain can get out of control.

HEMMER: You mention six months there. By no way, is that a timeframe that sets up the next question, but when do you know that the pain is enough that you have to go see someone and get it taken care of?

GUPTA: And that's a really important question, because a lot of people self-medicate, treat their back pain, their headaches, for example, on their own.

But the question, when do you go see a doctor. When it comes to back pain, for example, there are some specific things. If your pain is starting to be not only back pain, but also leg pain, the pain is actually shooting down your leg, or if you're having troubles with your bowel and bladder, it is time to go see a doctor about that pain, you might have a surgical problem.

With headaches, 97 percent of people actually treat headaches on their own. But again, if the pain is unrelenting, despite the fact that you're taking medications, even over-the-counter medications for those, it may be time to go see a doctor. Unrelenting meaning if the pain is lasting for a couple of weeks at a time. It is amazing. People come to the hospital sometimes and say, I've had this headache for two weeks, it's never gone away. That's a problem. That's certainly a reason to go see a doctor.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Sometimes they're afraid to go, because the doctor might tell them, oh, it's your imagination, it's just stress.

GUPTA: Right, and I think that's also a problem. Doctors are getting better about treating pain. Pain was not really a large part of the curriculum as a medical student either.

HEMMER: Really?

GUPTA: Yes, really fascinating. You learn how to treat the various problems on a scientific level, but to actually be able to treat the pain, the symptoms that are associated with these problems, not a large part of the curriculum when I went to medical school, becoming larger now.

COSTELLO: Weekend house call?

GUPTA: Yes, we're talking about actually this topic, weekend house call. We get a lit bit more time, about a half an hour, to delve into this particular topic. That's going to be on Saturday. And also Sunday, what we were talking about before, you and I Carol, about the wavefront Lasik surgery. We'll talk about that, as well, both those this weekend.

COSTLLO: Yes, and also the implantable contact lenses.

GUPTA: You're excited about that?

COSTELLO: Bill is. I'm exciting. I think that's amazing.

HEMMER: I can't wear contacts. The stigmatism is too severe in my eye. It doesn't fit and stick.

GUPTA: Fit and stick, a new term.

HEMMER: I've got to wear glasses, going blind by the day.

COSTELLO: Oh, geez.

HEMMER: Sanjay, have a great weekend.

GUPTA: All right. Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com