Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Why it's important for older people to exercise

Researchers now have the physical evidence to show why it's important for older people to exercise. And it comes with the discovery that, in aging racehorses, regular aerobic workouts decreased the prevalence of muscle damage that can be caused by exertion.

28 Mar 2005

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower blood pressure

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine have found.

28 Mar 2005

Heart attacks can be triggered by physical exertion and emotional stress

Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London, in a review published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, of dozens of studies done between 1970 and 2004 have come up with compelling evidence that indicates that people with a history of heart disease, can trigger heart attacks, some of them fatal, by physical exertion and emotional stress.

23 Mar 2005

First patient to test new treatment for peripheral arterial disease

For several years, crippling leg pain has prevented Joan Erickson from walking more than a block. If she paused to rest, she could walk a little more, but not enough to continue playing golf, her favorite pastime.

23 Mar 2005

Use of major opioid drugs combined with a history of previous relapse increased the likelihood of another relapse

The risk of relapse is significantly increased for health-care professionals treated for substance use disorders if they have coexisting psychiatric illness or a family history of substance abuse.

23 Mar 2005

Physical exertion and emotional stress can trigger heart attacks in people with a history of heart disease

Authors Philip Strike and Andrew Steptoe of University College London point out that the triggers for heart attacks may be quite different from the factors that lead to development of coronary heart disease over the long term, such as cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, work stress, social isolation, anxiety and depression.

22 Mar 2005

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome respond to placebos at a lower rate

Contrary to conventional wisdom, patients with chronic fatigue syndrome respond to placebos at a lower rate than people with many other illnesses, according to the first systematic review of the topic.

22 Mar 2005

Pushy Mums & Dads bad for kids!!

Clinical researchers from the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, in a small study in Archives of Disease in Childhood, are suggesting that well intentioned, but pushy parents, intent on exercising their rights as healthcare consumers, can be bad for their children's health.

21 Mar 2005

Bush intervenes in Terri Schiavo case

Terri Schiavo, has been in a permanent vegetative state which is far more severe than a coma, since she had a heart attack in 1990 that deprived her brain of oxygen.

21 Mar 2005

Aloe vera can also treat many oral health problems

New reports prove that the aloe vera plant, which has been used to heal skin for more than 2,000 years, can also treat many oral health problems including canker sores, cold sores, herpes simplex viruses, lichen planus and gingivitis

21 Mar 2005

Calls to regionalize the care of patients with heart attacks are premature

Calls to regionalize the care of patients with heart attacks are premature, and do not account for potential unintended consequences, according to a commentary by Yale researchers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

21 Mar 2005

MicroJet injector for painless injections

Parents know all too well the pain experienced by their children - and themselves - when the time comes for immunizations at the doctor's office.

21 Mar 2005

Sixteen per cent of people who use cannabis for medical reasons say that their doctor suggested it

"The results of our UK survey, including the extent of use and reported effects, lend support to the further development of safe and effective medicines based on cannabis" says lead author Dr Mark Ware principal investigator and pain physician at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Pain Centre.

21 Mar 2005

Disfigured patients may be forced to forego surgery

Increasing insurance company denials, restrictions on covered procedures and a new tactic of excluding specific procedures may be forcing some adults and children to live with painful medical conditions or disfigurement. This restrictive access to care contributed to a 10 percent decline in reconstructive plastic surgery procedures in 2004, according to the latest statistics by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

21 Mar 2005

A new method for analysing the therapy process

In clinical settings, therapy processes are complex dynamical systems where several variables are constantly interacting with each other. In general, the underlying mechanisms are difficult to assess.

21 Mar 2005

Acupuncture and strengthening exercises help relieve pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy

Researchers in Sweden identified 386 pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain. Women were randomly divided into three groups; one received standard treatment (a pelvic belt and a home exercise programme), another received standard treatment plus acupuncture, and the third received standard treatment plus stabilising exercises to improve mobility and strength.

21 Mar 2005

Link between C-reactive protein, heart disease and stroke

The cells that line the arteries are able to produce C-reactive protein, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the April issue of American Journal of Pathology.

16 Mar 2005

Cancer survival comes at its own price

Patients who hear the dreaded words "you have cancer" invariably look forward to the day the doctor tells them "you're cured." But University of Florida researchers say survival often comes at its own price -- the mind may need mending even after the body heals.

16 Mar 2005

T’ai Chi has many benefits for frail older adults

It’s no longer an ancient Chinese secret. A University of Missouri-Columbia researcher is putting a new spin on an old exercise and the outcome has many benefits for frail older adults.

15 Mar 2005

Fasting every other day, while cutting few calories, may reduce cancer risk

New research at the University of California, Berkeley, raises such a possibility. It shows that healthy mice given only 5 percent fewer calories than mice allowed to eat freely experienced a significant reduction in cell proliferation in several tissues, considered an indicator for cancer risk.

15 Mar 2005