Analgesics

Analgesics: Two Chemically and Clinically Distinct Categories

Analgesics are drugs that reduce or abolish the sensation of pain, without causing loss of consciousness, mental confusion, loss of coordination, paralysis, or any other disturbance of the nervous system. They fall into two categories that differ sharply in both their chemical mechanism and their potential for abuse.

Non-narcotic (non-addictive) analgesics. Aspirin and paracetamol are the standard examples of this category. Aspirin works chemically by inhibiting the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, the class of chemical compounds responsible for stimulating tissue inflammation and pain signalling at an injury site. Because of this same anti-prostaglandin action, aspirin-type drugs are also useful for managing skeletal pain such as that of arthritis, have an antipyretic (fever-lowering) effect, and, through a separate anti-platelet-coagulation action, are used in the prevention of heart attacks. …