Cowan David
Institute for Strategic Leadership and Service Improvement, Faculty of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University.
Br J Community Nurs. 2010 Jun;15(6):280-2. doi: 10.12968/bjcn.2010.15.6.48369.
While pain relief is a basic tenet of health care, pain is under-treated in the UK (Davies and Mcvicar, 2000) and this issue remains unresolved. This paper suggests that oral Aloe vera could be used in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), particularly that caused by osteoarthritis (OA). Despite being used as arthritis treatment for centuries (Yoo et al, 2008), evidence of effectiveness of Aloe vera is anecdotal or from small studies. The perceived benefits of prescribing Aloe vera for OA may be twofold: it has utility as an anti-inflammatory agent and also as a prophylactic against the gastrointestinal irritant effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Long-term, randomized, controlled studies are still needed to address the lack of evidence informing optimum prescribing of pain medication for people with OA (Cowan, 2007). There is no reason that so called 'nutraceutical' agents should not be subjected to the same rigorous randomized, controlled, double-blind trials as other 'mainstream' drugs. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask whether NSAID treatment and side effects can be improved by the addition of oral Aloe vera. Thus, we may then be in a more informed position to resolve the ongoing 'Pandemonium over Painkillers' (Cowan, 2007).
虽然缓解疼痛是医疗保健的基本原则，但在英国疼痛治疗不足（戴维斯和麦克维卡，2000年），且这个问题仍未得到解决。本文表明口服芦荟可用于治疗慢性非癌性疼痛（CNCP），尤其是骨关节炎（OA）引起的疼痛。尽管芦荟作为关节炎治疗药物已使用了数百年（柳等人，2008年），但其有效性的证据多为轶事或来自小型研究。为OA患者开芦荟处方的潜在益处可能有两方面：它具有抗炎作用，还可预防非甾体抗炎药（NSAIDs）对胃肠道的刺激作用。仍需要长期、随机、对照研究来解决OA患者疼痛药物最佳处方缺乏证据的问题（考恩，2007年）。没有理由认为所谓的“营养保健品”不应该像其他“主流”药物一样接受同样严格的随机、对照、双盲试验。因此，探讨添加口服芦荟是否能改善NSAID治疗及其副作用是合适的。这样，我们或许就能更明智地解决当前“止痛药之乱”的问题（考恩，2007年）。
