Hamburg, Germany - If you have mysterious back pains which
your doctor cannot explain, the cause may be partly due to watching
TV commercials about pain-relief medication, according to findings of
a revolutionary new study in Germany.
The German researchers said incidence of back pain among people
living behind the Berlin Wall increased dramatically after German
unification as East Germans became inundated by West German
commercial television networks.
In particular, East Germans were unaccustomed to being bombarded
with TV commercials for over-the-counter pain relievers.
The findings imply that, in a significant number of cases, people
develop pain from reading about the problem or hearing family,
friends and work colleagues moan about their own aches or watching
TV commercials about nagging back aches.
Before the Berlin Wall came down, less than 70 per cent of East
Germans reported having chronic back pain, while 84 per cent of West
Germans had it.
By 2003, however, the number of people in former East Germany
complaining of back pain had risen to almost the same as in West
Germany.
German scientists at the University of Luebeck suggested that
psychological disorders are the principle cause of low back pain in
the majority of sufferers.
The Luebeck scientists believe that, in the absence of injury or
trigger, the mind is tricked into thinking the body is in pain when
reading about the problem or hearing others complain about their
pain.
According to the study published in the International Journal of
Epidemiology, only 15 per cent of all backaches are caused by an
underlying physical problem such as a trapped nerve or herniated
disc.
The implication from their findings, they said, is to remain
active and not worry about all those reports you see on TV and read
in the news media about chronic back pain.
USA
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