Pharmaceutical and Botanical Management of Pain Associated with Psychopathology: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Generally, pain can be described as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with tissue damage. Chronic pain has become a public health problem because among 35 and 75% of the world population has shown the symptom. In particular, neuropathic pain has shown high comorbidity disorders such as anxiety and depression. Conventional therapies for treating pain include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioids, which usually cause some side effects such as gastritis, headache, liver and kidney toxicity, and drug dependence. Conventional pharmaceuticals also tend to be expensive, and they cannot be easily afforded in developing countries, which have led to the use of natural products as an alternative treatment. In this chapter, we reviewed the current research of natural products for pain treatment. We also describe preclinical studies that assess the effect of some natural products on pain therapy, phytochemistry research, toxicity, adverse effects, and biosecurity. We also describe how conventional pain is managed and the possible use of compounds obtained from vegetable species for pain treatment.