Chronic Pain Causes Brain Shrinkage–Do Something About It!

First reported in 2004 by Apkarian et al in the Journal of Neuroscience, numerous studies now show that chronic pain affects us in multiple ways. Alarmingly, chronic pain is associated with brain atrophy of up to 11%, equivalent to 10-20 years of normal aging. Other affects include altered brain chemistry, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, immune system suppression, elevated stress hormones, adrenal exhaustion, depression, insomnia, and suicide. It takes...