Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Advice for 5 million Aussies suffering with back pain - what's good for the heart is good for the back!

According to a new study by Australian researchers as many as 5 million Australians have recurring back problems.

17 Dec 2008

Expert says gross over-reaction to peanuts to blame for 'nut hysteria'

A Professor at Harvard Medical School suggests many people today are over-reacting to the threat of peanut allergies in children.

17 Dec 2008

Tips for preventing heel pain, pinched nerves and sore Achilles tendons

You've signed up for the gym membership. You've bought new workout clothes and shoes. You've made a promise to yourself to stick to your New Year's resolution to exercise and lose weight. You hit the gym, you work out hard for a week, then you wake up one morning and pain is shooting through your heel.

16 Dec 2008

MRI scans can predict effects of multiple sclerosis 'flare-ups' on optic nerve

One of the most pernicious aspects of multiple sclerosis (MS) - its sheer unpredictability - may finally be starting to yield to advanced medical imaging techniques.

16 Dec 2008

Five million Australians hampered by back pain

A new study by researchers at The George Institute for International Health has found that back pain is a reoccurring problem for five million Australians.

16 Dec 2008

Pregnant women need to avoid caffeine at all cost

A new study published online in The FASEB Journal shows that the equivalent of one dose of caffeine (just two cups of coffee) ingested during pregnancy may be enough to affect fetal heart development and then reduce heart function over the entire lifespan of the child.

16 Dec 2008

Physical therapy best for musculoskeletal pain relief

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is urging patients with musculoskeletal pain to consider treatment by a physical therapist, in light of a new federal survey showing that more than one-third of American adults and nearly 12 percent of children use alternative medicine - with back and neck pain being the top reasons for treatment.

15 Dec 2008

Lumbar fusion shows long-term benefits

Lumbar fusion is becoming an increasingly common treatment for low-back pain, but its long-term effects are relatively unknown. A doctoral thesis from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet now shows that the long-term effects are superior to those of physiotherapy.

15 Dec 2008

Close call for 3 year old girl stung by deadly box jellyfish

A three year old girl is lucky to be alive after she was stung by a deadly box jellyfish at a remote beach in Milingimbi in the Northern Territory, Australia.

15 Dec 2008

Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) shown to delay new episodes of depression

New data suggest that Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) 60 mg to 120 mg once daily delayed the onset of a new episode of depression in patients who had previously responded to the medication and who had recurrent depressive disorder, defined in the study as those patients who experienced at least three depressive episodes in the previous five years, compared with placebo (p < .001).

14 Dec 2008

Exercise can relieve symptoms of peripheral artery disease

You probably know that poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to dangerous deposits of fatty plaques in arteries.

14 Dec 2008

Exparel (DepoBupivacaine) shows promise in hernia repair

A Phase II trial of a single intraoperative administration of Exparel (DepoBupivacaine) resulted in significantly reduced pain with activity in the first 8 to 24 hours following surgery, when pain is generally greatest, compared to conventional treatment.

14 Dec 2008

Paliperidone palmitate shows positive results for treatment of schizophrenia

Paliperidone palmitate, an investigational long-acting therapy (LAT) demonstrated statistically significant symptom control compared with placebo according to the results of a 13-week study.

14 Dec 2008

Zometa (zoledronic acid) shown to enhance chemotherapy in reducing breast tumor size

New data released demonstrates that the addition of Zometa (zoledronic acid) injection to standard chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery reduces the size of breast tumors more effectively than chemotherapy alone in women with early-stage disease.

14 Dec 2008

Weights better than aerobic training for back pain

People who use weight training to ease their lower back pain are better off than those who choose other forms of exercise such as jogging, according to a University of Alberta study.

12 Dec 2008

Study shows major pain research funding decline at NIH

Federal funding for pain research is declining sharply, more than 9 percent a year since 2003, according to a new study published in The Journal of Pain.

12 Dec 2008

Novavax announces positive results in trial of seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate

Novavax, Inc. has announced favorable results from a Phase IIa human clinical trial of its seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate.

12 Dec 2008

Gene therapy used to treat periodontal disease

Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that gene therapy can be used to successfully stop the development of periodontal disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.

12 Dec 2008

Estrogen therapy can help control metastatic breast cancer

For breast cancer survivors, the idea of taking estrogen pills is almost a taboo. In fact, their doctors give them drugs to get rid of the hormone because it can fuel the growth of breast cancer.

12 Dec 2008

AstraZeneca responds to FDA advisory committees' recommendation on SYMBICORT

On December 11, 2008, the Joint Advisory Committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - including the Drug Safety & Risk Management Advisory Committee, the Pediatric Advisory Committee, and the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee - completed a review of the benefits and risks of asthma medications containing long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs).

12 Dec 2008