#Pain Reliever Safety: Some Red Flags -
Pain relievers are helpful tools but know the risks.
Surgery for #TrigeminalNeuralgia -
I had this surgery in 2003. It saved my life and was a part of me becoming pain free. Surgery is permanent, so always consider it as a last option.
An Integrated approach to #BACK PAIN -
Most low back pain tends to get better on its own within 4 to 6 weeks, regardless of how it’s treated. But if it doesn’t, it’s time to seek more specialized care.
Decades ago, most people who sought treatment for low back pain went to their primary care provider for medication and an X-ray. If their pain became intolerable, perhaps they ultimately saw an orthopedist for back surgery. But today, back pain is managed by a team of experts, each with his or her own specialty.
“It’s no longer the time when you have one person in the room saying, ‘Here’s how I’m going to treat your back pain,’” says David Fish, MD, a physiatrist at the University of California, Los Angeles, Spine Center and an associate professor in the department of orthopedics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The standard of care now is a multispecialty team, a group effort. It’s not just medication, not just physical therapy, not just injections — it’s a combination.”
So who should be on your treatment team for low back pain?
Potential #PAIN Breakthrough via Sodium Channel -
Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle have determined the atomic architecture of a sodium channel. The achievement opens new possibilities for molecular medicine researchers around the world in designing better drugs for pain, epilepsy, and heart rhythm disturbances.
Sodium channels are pores in the membranes of excitable cells - such as brain nerve cells or beating heart cells - that emit electrical signals. Sodium channels selectively open and close to allow the passage of millions of tiny charged particles across the cell membrane. The gated flow of sodium ions generates tiny amounts of electrical current.
Never before have researchers been able to obtain a high-resolution crystal structure showing all of the atoms of this complex protein molecule and how they relate in three-dimensions.
#Meditation 'cuts risk of heart attack by half' -
Meditation can be a key element in reducing your pain as well. It’s a great tool that we already have on board. Learn it and practice it and your life will be enhanced!
Mutations Of A Single Gene Cause Mystery Pain #PeripheralNeuropathy -
An estimated 20 million people in the United States suffer from peripheral neuropathy, marked by the degeneration of nerves and in some cases severe pain. There is no good treatment for the disorder and doctors can find no apparent cause in one of every three cases.
An international team of scientists headed by researchers from Yale University, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Haven and the University Maastricht in the Netherlands found that mutations of a single gene are linked to 30 percent of cases of unexplained neuropathy. The findings, published online June 22 in the Annals of Neurology, could lead to desperately needed pain treatments for victims of this debilitating disorder.
New Oral #RheumatoidArthritis Drug Works in Unique Way -
An experimental drug called tofacitinib may help treat rheumatoid arthritis — and it’s taken as a pill, rather than as an injection or infusion.
In London, researchers reported results from a study in which rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients took tofacitnib or a placebo. Tofacitinib improved symptoms better than the placebo and worked quickly in patients who had not responded to other medicines.
In the drug’s study, side effects included infections, but most were mild, Kremer says. Four patients died during or after the trial, but the drug is not thought to be involved in most of those cases, and the researchers found the drug’s safety profile to be “acceptable.”
Can a doctor EVER understand what your #pain feels like? -
A couple of years ago, I was walking across a ploughed field when I was struck by such a searing pain in my left foot that I fell to the ground, moaning in harmony with the rooks above me.
After half an hour of massaging my toes, I was able to hobble the half-mile home.
As this seemed to be no ordinary pain, I went to the doctor, who referred me to the hospital. ‘A damaged nerve,’ they said. ‘Needs to be scanned.’
But three appointments were cancelled, and the foot attacks came frequently, so with reluctance I went privately to an orthopaedic consultant in Oxford.
He immediately diagnosed a neuroma — a benign tumour on a nerve between two bones. I looked at the enlarged nerve on his ultrasound machine, 6 mm in diameter instead of 3 mm.
Indiana University Neuroscientists Map A New Target To Wipe #ChronicPain Away -
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a peptide that short circuits a pathway for chronic pain. Unlike current treatments this peptide does not exhibit deleterious side effects such as reduced motor coordination, memory loss or depression, according to an article in Nature Medicine posted online June 5, 2011.
The peptide, CBD3, has been shown in mice to interfere with signals that navigate calcium channels to produce pain. Unlike other substances that block pain signals, CBD3 does not directly inhibit the influx of calcium. This is important as influx of calcium regulates heart rhythm and vital functions in other organs.
Chronic Pain Makes Brain Thinner, Effects Reversible -
The good new is, says study researchers, some of this damage can be reversed.
According to the study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, just six months after treatment of the chronic pain study participants brains showed fewer signs of abnormalities associated with chronic pain.
Pain and the Brain
Pain occurs where there is an initial injury to which your body sends pain signals along the nerves to the brain. However, in the case of chronic pain these pain signals do not subside after the injury goes away and pain signals continue to fire for months or even years. Chronic pain can cause depression along with cognitive impairments such as lack of of memory, concentration and judgment.
Investigators Explore New Frontiers In The Development Of Tomorrow's #Pain Medicines -
Prodigious progress has been made in the last decade toward a deeper understanding and improved treatment of chronic pain. Yet, identifying novel mechanisms that underlie this complex array of conditions and developing innovative therapies to tackle them remains challenging. On June 2-3, 2011, leading and emerging investigators studying the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying neuropathic and chronic pain and experts in the clinical development of pain therapies will convene at the New York Academy of Sciences to address novel issues, current challenges and future directions of basic research in pain and pre-clinical and clinical development of new therapies for chronic pain.
Arthritis Pain Relief With the Brain's and Body's Own Powers -
An optical illusion that harnesses the power of suggestion might one day deliver drug-free pain relief to arthritis sufferers, British researchers say.
Analgesic and anti-inflammatory pills and physical therapy are among traditional approaches to reducing or eliminating the aches and pains of chronic osteoarthritis, common among men and women older than 50. In recent years, many sufferers have tried complementary and alternative approaches such as yoga, massage and acupuncture to counter the pain and stiffness of the wear and tear on their joints.
Now, psychologists at the University of Nottingham say that they might have serendipitously stumbled upon a new, non-invasive way of turning down the pain dial by tapping into brain-body connections.
Scientists Discover How Peppermint Soothes Gastric Pain -
New research offers insight into how peppermint helps relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia report that peppermint activates an “anti-pain” channel in the colon. This contributes to relief of pain from inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.
“Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain-sensing fibers, particularly those activated by mustard and chili,” Dr. Stuart Brierley said in a university news release.
“This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. This is a debilitating condition and affects many people on a daily basis, particularly women who are twice as likely to experience irritable bowel syndrome,” Brierley added.
Rising Obesity Rates Add to Arthritis Woes in U.S.: CDC -
THURSDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) — Rising rates of obesity among the 50 million Americans with arthritis are cause for concern because excess weight is associated with increased problems for arthritis patients, a new study says.
In people with arthritis, obesity is associated with disease progression, reduced activity, disability, poorer quality of life, total joint replacement and poor outcomes after joint replacement.
For the study, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers analyzed Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 2003 to 2009 and found that obesity prevalence among adults with arthritis was 54% higher than among adults without arthritis.
#backpain
Low back pain is the second most common pain complaint at doctor’s offices. It can make simple movements extremely challenging.
Always on the move, you’d never guess Sandy Hodgson was 65 years old but time has taken its toll on her back with pain that came out of nowhere.
Sandy explains that she couldn’t walk and she couldn’t get out of bed, she says that it’s a good thing her husband retired in January because he took care of her.
Desperate for relief she struggled with prolonged, excruciating pain. Sandy also says that it lasted a lot longer than childbirth but the pain was worse.