News releases that we think might be of interest to you.
Severe chronic pain accompanied by progressive joint destruction, disability, and disfigurement is known to increase the risk of experiencing emotional disturbances, with RA patients twice as likely to be depressed as people in the general population. Emotional wellness for persons with RA plays a critical role in disease course and disability. Results of our research demonstrate the potential for clinicians to improve pain control by addressing their patients' psychological symptoms in addition to conducting anti-inflammation therapy," stated Dr. Kojima. The study indicates for those patients reporting severe pain without CRP level elevation, psychotherapy and/or psychotropic medication might have priority. "A clinical approach that takes into account both the body and the mind could have benefits and could enable optimal pain control," recommend the authors.
For more information see link below http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804145612.htm Health Tip: Understanding Low Back PainSome common causesLow back pain ranging from mild discomfort to debilitating agony -- plagues nearly everyone at some point. But even mild low back pain can interfere with your life and your work.The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons lists these common causes of low back pain:
Ø Lifting an object using the back, not the legs.
Ø Degenerative changes in the spine as people age.
Ø Straining the back during activity
Ø An injury (tear or herniation) to a disc in the spine.
Ø Spondylolisthesis, a condition in which the vertebrae slip out of place and put pressure on nerves in the spine.
Ø Spinal stenosis, which occurs when the space around the spine narrows, resulting in pressure on nearby nerves and the spinal cord
Ø Scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine.
For more information see link below http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/08/03/health-tip-understanding-low-back-pain.html
A type of talking treatment called cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may help people with arthritis to sleep better, and to feel less pain. But we need to see bigger studies of this treatment to be sure it works. People with a joint condition called osteoarthritis often have trouble sleeping because of pain. And lack of sleep can make pain worse. So it can become a vicious cycle. If you have arthritis and you find it hard to sleep, this study suggests that a course of CBT aimed at helping you to sleep better might be helpful.If you're interested in finding out more about CBT, talk to your GP. He or she may be able to help you find a therapist locally.
For more information see link below http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments/2009/aug/17/talking-treatment-may-help-with-arthritis-pain
11th December 2007
Exercise Cuts Pain From Fibromyalgia
A recent study randomly assigned 207 women who were taking medication for fibromyalgia to do aerobic and flexibility exercises, to do strength training as well as the exercises, to participate in an educational program that teaches self-management of the condition, or to do the exercises and educational program. After four months, women in all groups that did exercise reported less pain and fatigue and improvements in emotional health and ability to function that averaged 25 percent, compared with no gains in the education-only group. Those who exercised were also more confident of their ability to do a task; this feeling of self-efficacy declined among the others.
Who may be affected? Women with fibromyalgia, which affects up to one in 50 people in the United States, about 90 percent of them women, most middle-aged. The cause is unknown.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-healthqs1211.artdec11,0,64538.story
11th December 2007
Morphine: A comfort measure for the dying or pain control for the living?
Cancer patients are suffering unnecessarily because they wrongly believe that morphine and other opioids are only used as “comfort for the dying” and as a “last resort” rather than seeing them as legitimate pain killers that can improve their quality of life.In a study published online today (Tuesday 11 December) in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1], experts in palliative care also say “the belief that opioids hasten death is widely held” amongst patients and this “has a significant impact on pain management, as patients felt that an offer of opioids signified imminent death”. Previous studies have estimated that between 40-70% of cancer patients may not have their pain properly controlled with the right medication for a variety of reasons.Dr Colette Reid, the lead author of the study, said: “If we are to employ the range of available opioids in order to successfully manage pain caused by cancer, we must ensure that morphine does not remain inextricably linked with death. If this connection stays in place then morphine will continue to be viewed as a comfort measure for the dying rather than a means of pain control for the living.”Dr Reid and her colleagues say that the role of the medical professional is crucial in helping to change patients’ beliefs and attitudes towards morphine. They write that the study’s findings “highlight the importance of the professional in cancer pain management, but also how beliefs about opioids that are communicated to the relatives of the dying may have implications for the pain relief of others in the future”.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/esfm-mac121007.php9th December 2007
An Understanding of Migraine Disease & Tips for Migraine Management
After a century of society and the medical community blaming Migraines on their sufferers, advanced technology and the age of information gave us the knowledge to begin to understand this debilitating disease. However, dangerous and outdated myths surrounding the Migraine disease have not yet been dispelled on a widespread basis. Not only are such myths believed by many loved ones and co-workers of those with Migraines, but by those with Migraines themselves (Migraineurs). Furthermore, such myths continue to be unwittingly reported in the media. The Migraine disease is a serious health and disability problem that affects approximately 32 million Americans, most of whom are women, with up to 38 million Americans having Migraine genetic propensity. There is no known cure for the Migraine disease, only treatments for the symptoms. Furthermore, such treatments are not yet wholly effective and Migraineurs may show a diminished tolerance to a variety of medications, treatments, and pain management regiments. MYTH: A MIGRAINE IS JUST A BAD HEADACHE.
REALITY: MIGRAINE IS A DISEASE, A HEADACHE IS ONLY A SYMPTOM. IN ADDITION, THE CAUSE OF MIGRAINE PAIN IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE CAUSE OF HEADACHE PAIN. Unlike a headache, the Migraine disease has many symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, auras (light spots), sensitivity to light and sound, numbness, difficulty in speech, and severe semihemispherical head pain. One Migraine attack alone can last for eight hours, several days, or even weeks. MYTH: MIGRAINE IS CAUSED BY PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS, SUCH AS STRESS AND DEPRESSION.
REALITY: MIGRAINE IS A NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE, NOT A PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER.
Migraine is a true organic neurological disease. A Migraine is caused when a physiological (not psychological) trigger or triggers cause vasodilatation in the cranial blood vessels, which triggers nerve endings to release chemical substances called neurotransmitters, of which the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HTT) is an important factor in the development of Migraine.
9th December 2007
Relieve Pain Drug-Free With New Foldable Mirror Box Therapy
Patients the world over have been experiencing exceptional pain relief from the use of a simple mirror box and now this revolutionary treatment is recognized by the New England Journal of Medicine as a viable treatment for rehabilitation and pain management. The mirror box essentially ’tricks’ the brain into thinking the patient is moving the affected limb. The patient places his or her injured limb into the box. The reflection of the healthy limb is seen by the patient as a virtual image of the less than functional limb. The brain sees the affected limb as normal, thus resulting in a vast reduction of pain and increased motor function.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=546528th December 2007
Drug trial cuts chronic pain's opiates need
It wasn't until after surgery abated her need for huge doses of morphine that one South Australian woman realised how much the medication she had been taking for her back pain had been disrupting her life. her energy returned. She was no longer constantly sleepy. Her concentration improved and she could live once again.
This example illlustrates one of the most exasperating aspects of chronic pain -- that the side effects of the drugs used to treat it can sometimes be nearly as debilitating as the pain itself, says Mark Hutchinson, a University of Adelaide post-doctoral fellow who is working with other experts in America to change that. But new research is paving the way for a new class of non-addictive drugs to treat neuropathic pain, in which the nerve fibres themselves become damaged and send incorrect signals. Most chronic pain is neuropathic. After the original injury, such as a broken leg or a neck strain, has healed, the nerves sometimes fail to return to normal and keep sending a pain signal when there is no potentially harmful external stimuli to justify it.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22882882-23289,00.html2nd December 2007
Tough narcotic rules had meant that even patients with terminal illness had no alternative but to endure pain. But palliative care is now getting a new lease of life in Kerala.
An estimated two million cancer patients in India live their days in excruciating, needless pain. In a country which is one of the largest producers of raw morphine in the world, this easy and low-cost pain relief medication reaches less than one per cent of the needy patients. Not just cancer patients, many with burns, spinal injuries, paraplegia or motor neuron diseases also can benefit from palliative care. But in a health system which has never considered pain and palliative care as an integral part of mainstream medicine, even the physicians themselves might not come forward to demand pain relief for their patients. But Kerala seems to have succeeded where the rest of India has failed. Its experiments in palliative care since 1993, with active involvement of local communities, have been so successful that today 80 per cent of all palliative care services in the country are delivered in Kerala.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/12/02/stories/2007120250090400
1st December 2007
Ethics and therapy choices for pain management pratitioners
In pain management, we draw on the biopsychosocial model and our aim is to encourage people to maintain their wellbeing through their own efforts rather than using aids, appliances or even other people. I was having a discussion yesterday with a colleague who has recently started working in another area of health, away from pain management. He was talking about the different philosophy that exists in this new area, and the change of practice that he was learning to deal with, and it made me stop to think about how our treatment practices are shaped by not only our ethics - the need to provide effective and appropriate treatment - but also our treatment model.
For more information please click on this link below: http://healthskills.wordpress.com/2007/12/01/ethics-and-therapy-choices/
29th November 2007
Back pain relief without surgery
There are treatments that can relieve your pain and it doesn’t mean having to get back surgery.“Throbbing, burning, it's just unbelievable pain,” says Paul Ciccione.Paul Ciccione's been living with severe back pain for three years. He's seen a chiropractor to treat two herniated discs but even with intense therapy he wasn't getting better.Now Paul gets epidurals to treat his pain. Two shots a year at MCG Health System's Chronic Pain Management Clinic.Dr. Dan Martin, director of the clinic, says epidurals and cortisone injections work wonders in treating nerves that are the source of pain. Patients get relief from pain six months to a year. He says great alternatives to having surgery.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/health/11867891.html
29th November 2007
Freezing Bone Cancer Tumors Reduces Pain
Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone.Each year in the United States approximately 100,000 people develop cancer that spreads to the bone (metastasizes). This type of cancer causes extreme pain and often cannot be managed by narcotics or other standard treatments. New approaches in pain management are needed to help patients living longer with cancer, achieve a higher quality of life.In this study, cryoablation was used to treat 34 patients whose primary cancers had spread to the bone. These patients either did not have success with conventional pain management treatments or refused such treatments. Eighty percent of the patients experienced a clinically significant reduction in pain. Furthermore, the treatment appears to have lasting effects: 24 weeks after undergoing the procedure, patients still reported significantly lower levels of pain. “Two key parts of this study are that the reduction in pain lasts and their quality of life improves after receiving the treatment,” Dr. Callstrom says.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/535511/
28th November 2007
CO-PROXAMOL withdrawal debate
The painkiller, which so many UK fibromites and millions of other people rush to take to relieve pain, co-proxamol, is scheduled to be withdrawn from general prescription after December 2007. Only named patients, who have tried alternatives and failed to find relief from other drugs, will be considered by some GPs for a special prescription. It is hoped this may continued after the end of 2007 subject to the availability of stocks, as some manufacturers have already stopped producing this drug. Many people who take co-proxamol have been complaining about the withdrawal of this painkiller, which was highlighted in the House of Commons in a debate way back in 2005 following an announcement in the press early that year. The debate appears to continue with no solution in sight as we enter the final stages of withdrawal – one month away.
For more information please click on this link below: http://jeannehambleton77.wordpress.com/2007/11/26/co-proxamol-withdrawal-debate/
27th November 2007
Anesthesiologists Help Manage Non-Combat Pain Problems in Coalition Troops
Back pain and other acute and chronic pain conditions are common among U.S. and coalition soldiers serving in Iraq, and anesthesiologists specializing in pain management can play an important role in managing these non-battle-related injuries according to a new study in the December issue of the journal Anesthesiology. While trauma management is the primary mission at Ibn Sina, Maj. Ron L. White, M.D., and Col. Steven P. Cohen, M.D.—anesthesiologists with special training in pain management—felt that "down time" at the hospital could be used to treat some of the non-battle-related pain conditions that are common among deployed troops. "These soldiers had acute and recurrent chronic pain problems that, in the civilian sector, would normally be addressed by either a well-trained primary care doctor or a pain management specialist," says Dr. Cohen. "In a previous study, we found that low back pain—specifically sciatica—was the number one reason for treatment in pain clinics at U.S. Army hospitals among soldiers medically evacuated out of Iraq. However, when these soldiers were treated at pain clinics in the United States and Europe, less than two percent returned to duty.”
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/535563/
26th November 2007
Cancer Pain and Complementary Medicines
Often one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with a cancer diagnosis is living with the pain of the disease. Although a wide range of medications are available to treat cancer-related pain, they don’t always work for every patient, and they can have some pretty significant side effects. Patients and their doctors are increasingly turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques, such as massage, acupuncture, and herbal supplements to relieve cancer pain in conjunction with medication. These treatments not only have fewer adverse side effects than conventional pain drugs, but they are actually very effective at relieving pain and anxiety in cancer patients, according to a review of current research in the August 2007 issue of Current Pain and Headache Reports.*
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.cancermonthly.com/iNP/view.asp?ID=195
26th November 2007
There is one undeniable fact about chronic pain: More often than not, it is untreated or undertreated.I
n a survey last year by the American Pain Society, only 55 percent of all patients with pain unrelated to cancer and fewer than 40 percent with severe pain said their pain was under control.
But it does not have to be this way. There are myriad treatments — drugs, devices and alternative techniques — that can greatly ease persistent pain, if not eliminate it.
Chronic pain is second only to respiratory infections as a reason patients seek medical care. Yet because physicians often do not take a patient's pain seriously or treat it adequately, nearly half of chronic-pain patients have changed doctors at least once, and more than a quarter have changed doctors at least three times.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/FEATURES07/711250301/1016/FEATURES07
24th November
E cell launched by Healing Technologies
E-cell is the world’s first medically approved totally portable treatment device that actually mimics the natural repair process of cells in muscle, tendon, cartilage and bone. Using advanced electromagnetic technology developed by Global Energy Medicine e-cell TM gives you “energy for life”.E-Cell TM is a small compact portable device that is very easy to use. E-cell comes with 12 (optional) sim cards that you order according to your individual needs.
For more information please click on the links below: http://HealingTechnologies.com.au
23rd November 2007
Working through Chronic Pain
The story of a firefighter diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis determined to combat his agony and continue working with his team in Oregon. After trying many different drugs to help with his arthritis, he found one that did the trick, and is now able to not only function in his job but is typically pain free. There are few solid numbers on how many of workers like Williams, are staying on the job even though they suffer an ongoing illness, including arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, asthma, cardiac and cardio-vascular diseases, and even cancer. But experts believe the numbers of individuals with such diseases in the workplace is increasing.As much as three-quarters of the population with a chronic illness can be helped through disease management and continue to work, says Chris Wilhide, the director of program development and research for Nationwide Better Health, a division of insurance giant Nationwide that provides disease management programs to employers.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.nbc11.com/msnbchealth/14640000/detail.html
21st November 2007
Chronic Pain is a Family Problem
Those of us living with chronic pain can relate to the frustration, sense of loss, depression, anxiety and stress it causes. We also feel guilty because someone else in the household has to pick up the slack for what we are not able to do. The person who has to pick up the extra slack can feel resentful, angry, frustrated and fatigued because they have to do it all, or they feel as though they are doing it all.
There is a great article in the New York Times titled “Chronic Pain: A Burden Often Shared“. The article talks about how chronic pain not only affects the sufferer but also their spouse, children and other loved ones around them.
For more information please click on this link below: http://www.fightingfatigue.org/?p=112820th November 2007
Scolioscis – Ahead of the curve
A spinal defect caused Newsnight's Madeleine Holt years of pain – she even wore a back brace on TV. Then she found a radical new treatment. An article in The Independent by Esther Walker.What it would mean for her was years of chronic neck pain, thousands of pounds spent searching for a cure and a whole year of wearing a brace round the clock – even on television for her job as Newsnight's culture correspondent.Scoliosis – an abnormal curvature of the spine – affects three or four children in every 1,000. The tell-tale sign of scoliosis is when one side of the back is higher than the other. The traditional treatment for scoliosis is a back brace, which limits the angle of curvature, or, in more extreme cases, surgery to insert metal rods in the spine.
For more information please click on this link below: http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3177439.ece
20th November 2007
Experts pained at billions wasted failing those in agony
The cost of chronic pain to Australia is $34 billion each year, but more than half of that is wasted owing to inadequate medical services and lack of doctor education about pain management, a landmark study has found.Measuring the economic impact of pain for the first time, the study, by Access Economics and the University of Sydney's Pain Management Research Institute, found that chronic pain cost the economy $34.3 billion in 2007 - nearly $11,000 for each of the 3.2 million Australians living with the condition. The study measured loss of productivity, hospital and other medical costs, and the cost of welfare and disability payments, as well as non-financial cost