Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Pain-free and drug-free labour? Get real!

A pain-free and drug-free labour may be many expectant mothers' dream but a review in the open access journal BMC Medicine reveals that reality hits hard.

17 Mar 2008

Medical emergency protocols should be upgraded and optimised on all major airlines

Osman Dar, a clinical fellow at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge shares his experience of treating an elderly man with crushing chest pain on a flight to Africa.

17 Mar 2008

Psychological intervention reduces postembolization pain

Psychological intervention has been shown to reduce the postembolization pain during hepatic arterial chemoembolizatiom therapy.

14 Mar 2008

Prescribing costs increase dramatically when people reach 65

Prescribing costs increase dramatically when people reach 65, according to a detailed analysis of more than five million patients published in the March issue of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

14 Mar 2008

Pain receptor in brain may be linked to learning and memory

Scientists have long known that the nervous system receptor known as TRPV1 can affect sensations of pain in the body.

14 Mar 2008

Overweight or obese women can improve quality of life with 10 to 30 minutes of exercise

Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

14 Mar 2008

Oral methadone dosing for chronic pain: practitioner's guide

Methadone, a strong opioid analgesic, is an effective and economical choice for the management of cancer pain and chronic noncancer pain, both as a first line medication and as a replacement opioid.

14 Mar 2008

Is deep-vein thrombosis lurking in your legs?

They kill 300,000 people a year - but most of them could be prevented. They strike more than a million people every year, most of them out of the blue - and half without causing symptoms.

14 Mar 2008

Total ankle replacement gaining foothold in upstate New York

A procedure aimed at not only relieving pain from arthritic ankles, but providing new-found mobility for patients, is gaining a foothold in upstate New York.

13 Mar 2008

TRPV1 receptor blockers may interfere with brain functions

A new class of painkillers that block a receptor called TRPV1 may interfere with brain functions such as learning and memory, a new study suggests.

13 Mar 2008

Aspirin/NSAID interaction in treatment for second stroke

Stroke patients who use ibuprofen for arthritis pain or other conditions while taking aspirin to reduce the risk of a second stroke undermine aspirin's ability to act as an anti-platelet agent, researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown.

13 Mar 2008

A road map to safer pain control, cost savings during colonoscopies

At a time when several U.S. health insurers have discontinued payment for use of the sedative propofol during most screening colonoscopies, physicians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that an alternative way to administer the drug could both save millions of health care dollars and provide a safer way to deliver optimal pain relief.

12 Mar 2008

Researchers find treatment for familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome

Dalhousie Medical School dermatologist Dr. Barrie Ross and his colleagues have successfully ended a 20-year quest to find a treatment for Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome (FCAS).

12 Mar 2008

COX-2 expression is marker for cancer development in some benign breast biopsies

It's a good news, bad news situation. Some women who have a breast biopsy are told that while they don't have cancer, they do have atypical hyperplasia -- cells that aren't quite normal and might become cancerous someday.

12 Mar 2008

New diagnostic tool detects and monitors bladder cancer

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Foundation for Research and Development announced a promising new diagnostic tool to detect and monitor bladder cancer.

12 Mar 2008

New surgery technique for pancreatic cancer offers hope to sufferers

Just days after it was announced in the media that Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze was being treated for pancreatic cancer, doctors in Britain have performed a new operation for people with the advanced stage of the disease.

11 Mar 2008

Nasal polyps from analgesics

If a patient develops respiratory problems after taking analgesics, this indicates that the active substances are poorly tolerated.

11 Mar 2008

Observational study of severe osteoporosis

Women who do not comply with treatment instructions for osteoporosis or who do not respond to treatment are more likely to suffer further fractures, which seriously affects their quality of life.

11 Mar 2008

Pesticides and nerve agents explain health problems in Persian Gulf war veterans

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows there is increasing evidence that high rates of illness in Persian Gulf War Veterans can be explained, in part, by exposure to certain chemicals, including pesticides and nerve agents.

11 Mar 2008

Gender bias may affect care of people with osteoarthritis

Unconscious prejudices among doctors may explain why women complaining of knee pain are less likely than men to be recommended for total knee replacement surgery, a study in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests.

11 Mar 2008