American Chronic Pain Association

Prevalence rates for a variety of different types of pain have been described. The annual incidence of moderate-intensity back pain is 10% to 15% in the adult population with a point prevalence of 15% to 30%.3 Migraine affects more than 25 million Americans, and 90% of Americans report some other types of headaches (e.g., tension or sinus) each year.4 Pain resulting from fibromyalgia affects 4 million Americans.5 Cancer is commonly associated with both acute and chronic pain, and about 70% of those diagnosed with cancer will experience significant pain.6... 

Atherosclerotic coronary disease is the major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1, 2], It is currently the underlying cause of approximately 50 % of deaths across the Western world, while having a major impact on the quality of life of many more individuals, as a result of chronic pain, activity restriction, unemployment, and disability [1, 2], As a consequence atherosclerosis places a significant psychological and financial burden for patients and the health-care system [3], According to the American Heart Association, the direct and indirect cost of CVD for 2009 in the USA, including health expenditures and loss of productivity, has been estimated to a total of 475.3 billion, and in the EU approximately 192 billion a year [3], By 2030, the prevalence of CVD and the cost of treating CVD are predicted to increase by almost 18 % and 100 %, respectively [4],... 

Warshaw A, Banks PA, Femandez-del C. American Gastroenterological Association technical review Treatment of pain in chronic pancreatitis. Gastroenterology 1998 115 765-776. 

Collacott, E. A. (2000). Bipolar permanent magnets for the treatment of chronic low back pain A pilot study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 1322-1327. 

When degenerative disc disease is the underlying cause of pain, conservative therapy may not alleviate the patient s symptoms. In the United States, fusion is the most common surgical procedure for chronic low back pain for patients who do not respond to conservative treatment [1]. In 2005, an estimated 228,000 Americans underwent lumbar spine fusion procedures for intractable lower back pain, and the annual number of lumbar fusions in the United States is projected to increase to 6.5 million by 2030 [3]. However, the clinical success rate of lumbar fusion is variable and reportedly ranges between 16 and 95% [4]. Furthermore, fusion of a painful degenerated disc has been associated with subsequent degeneration at adjacent intervertebral discs (sometimes referred to as adjacent segment disease by chnicians) [5, 6]. 

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