Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Guideline helps predict outcome in comatose survivors after CPR

Certain tests can predict with great accuracy whether a person in a coma after CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) will have a poor outcome, according to new guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Jul 2006

Promising therapy for Lou Gehrig's disease delivers antisense drug directly to nervous system

Researchers have designed and tested a molecular therapy in animals that they hope will be a major development in the fight to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

27 Jul 2006

Response to overdose among injection drug users

Intravenous drug users are likely to experience or witness a drug overdose, but they don't know how to deal with one when it happens.

26 Jul 2006

High rates of off-label prescriptions for antidepressant, anticonvulsant and antipsychotic drugs

A University of Georgia study has found that three-quarters of people prescribed antidepressant drugs receive the medications for a reason not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

26 Jul 2006

New faster magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data-acquisition technique

A faster magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data-acquisition technique will cut the time many patients spend in a cramped magnetic resonance scanner, yet deliver more precise 3-D images of their bodies.

26 Jul 2006

Heat sensitivity may make testicular cancer cells more susceptible to standard treatments and die off more readily

Experts at Johns Hopkins have linked scientific evidence spanning more than 30 years to suggest an explanation for why testicular cancer patients like seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong survive far better than patients with other advanced cancers.

26 Jul 2006

Reduced levels of antiinflammatory cytokines in patients with chronic widespread pain

Chronic widespread pain, a common medical condition, can be difficult to treat and is often associated with fatigue, poor sleep and depression.

26 Jul 2006

Estradiol and its metabolites and their association with knee osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, which usually develops between the ages of 40 and 50, is more prevalent in women. It is thought that sex hormones may play a role in developing the disease, since they can be involved in inflammation of the tissues affected by it.

26 Jul 2006

Disease-specific gene expression profiles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

They sleep together, eat together, and most people find it impossible to tell them apart. Identical twins who grow up together share just about everything, including their genes.

26 Jul 2006

NICE backs use of Enbrel and Raptiva to treat severe psoriasis

NICE has today issued guidance for the use of the targeted biological therapies, Enbrel (etanercept) and Raptiva (efalizumab), to treat adult patients with severe plaque psoriasis.

26 Jul 2006

Growing pains linked to body weight

University of South Australia researchers have discovered that young children experiencing growing pains had significantly greater body weight than children for whom no pain was reported.

25 Jul 2006

Mechanism linking alcohol to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease may be related to inflammation

Older adults who consume one to seven alcoholic beverages a week may live longer and have a reduced risk for cardiac events than those who do not drink - an association that appears independent of the anti-inflammatory effects of alcohol.

25 Jul 2006

Interaction of proteins in the intestinal system may be allergic indicators

Researchers have identified one of the proteins that may be responsible for causing food allergies, which could lead to the development of more accurate non-invasive tests to identify true food allergies.

25 Jul 2006

Lassa fever reported in Germany

German health authorities have reported to WHO an imported case of Lassa fever, confirmed by laboratory tests at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.

25 Jul 2006

FDA approves Elaprase (idursulfase) for Hunter syndrome

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Elaprase (idursulfase), the first product for the treatment of Hunter syndrome (Mucopolysaccharidosis II, or MPS II).

25 Jul 2006

Increasing deaths from opioid analgesics in the United States

Trends analysis of drug poisoning deaths has helped explain a national epidemic of overdose deaths in the USA that began in the 1990s, concludes Leonard Paulozzi and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

24 Jul 2006

Increasing deaths from opioid analgesics in the United States

24 Jul 2006

Long term ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive abilities

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that chronic ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive abilities.

21 Jul 2006

Synergetics announces new bipolar technology patent

Synergetics has announced that it has received an additional patent covering its bipolar technology through the issuance of U.S. patent number 7,041,096.

21 Jul 2006

Antibiotics should not used to treat a runny nose

Antibiotics should not be given to patients with acute purulent rhinitis (a runny nose with coloured discharge), a familiar feature of the common cold, concludes a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

21 Jul 2006