Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Rituximab, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is safe and effective

Professor Paul Emery from the University of Leeds in the UK led the DANCER study (Double blind placebo controlled dose ranging study), designed to confirm the efficacy of rituximab for the treatment of patients with active RA who have failed to improve on one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

9 Jun 2005

Rituximab provides new hope for people with lupus

Rheumatologists at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Vienna, Austria heard today (Thursday 9 June) that rituximab is the first drug in a quarter of a century that is making a real impact, and an alternative to previous standard treatments of high-dose steroids, and chemotherapy.

9 Jun 2005

CT screening lowers negative appendectomy rate from 20% to 3% at urban hospital

Five years ago, the negative appendectomy rate at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston was 20%, but since the advent of CT screening, it has dropped to 3%, say MGH researchers. The negative appendectomy rate measures how often patients with symptoms of appendicitis have their appendix removed and then are diagnosed as not having acute appendicitis.

8 Jun 2005

New medical marijuana ruling

In many of San Francisco's medical marijuana clubs business carried on as usual despite the Supreme Court ruling on June 6 that people who smoke pot for medicinal purposes can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.

8 Jun 2005

Arthritis patients still suffer as drugs guidelines are ignored

Access to drugs whose use was approved by the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) three years ago is still being denied to patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis.

7 Jun 2005

Watch, wait and see, may be best option for babes' ear infections

One of the most common and frequent reasons why doctors prescribe antibiotics to young children is for an ear infection.

7 Jun 2005

Combining morphine with small doses of methadone could increase the effectiveness of morphine for the treatment of chronic pain

Although morphine is well known as a highly effective analgesic, its clinical utility is severely limited by the development of drug tolerance, the requirement for increasing doses to maintain analgesic effect, and the development of physical dependence.

6 Jun 2005

Gene therapy for arthritis is both feasible and safe

Gene therapy for arthritis and other non-terminal, debilitating conditions and diseases is both feasible and safe, report researchers who conducted the world's first such test on the approach in patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis.

6 Jun 2005

U.S. Supreme Court overules states and makes marijuana for medicinal use illegal

A U.S. Supreme Court has decreed that the Federal Government has the power to prevent sick patients from smoking home-grown marijuana that a doctor recommended to relieve chronic pain. The 6 to 3 ruling by a divided court is a major setback for the medical use of marijuana.

6 Jun 2005

Better care for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers

Doctors and nurses from Europe and America have been learning about an innovative way, pioneered in Bristol, to help rheumatoid arthritis sufferers.

6 Jun 2005

Chemicals in Cannabis may help mentally ill

Smoking cannabis which has previously been shown to damage mental health, now according to a new study may be useful in relieving the symptoms of severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder.

6 Jun 2005

Educating parents and physicians could reduce overuse of antibiotics in children

The most frequent reason pediatricians prescribe antibiotics to young children is for an ear infection (acute otitis media). With increased concerns about high rates of antibiotic use and resistance, recent guidelines suggest consideration of "watchful waiting" for some ear infections to see if they resolve without antibiotics.

6 Jun 2005

Diabetes knowledge has little effect on improving outcomes

A new study by Duke Clinical Research Institute researchers finds little relationship between what a diabetic patient knows about the disease and control of its associated cardiovascular risk factors or how well the patient ultimately fares.

3 Jun 2005

New vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has announced that a study to be published in the June 22/29 issue found that a new vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults, carriers of the contagious respiratory disease so dangerous to infants.

3 Jun 2005

Pilates and yoga appear to relieve the symptoms of menopause

Pilates and yoga, often referred to as “mind-body” activities, show promising benefits which include increased flexibility, improved quality of life, relief of the symptoms of menopause, and some reduction of lower back pain.

2 Jun 2005

Study suggests continuous NSAID treatment more effectively reduces X-Ray progression than intermittent treatment

A widely under-recognized form of arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, progressive disease targeting the spine.

2 Jun 2005

Stronger version of chickenpox vaccine cuts incidence and severity of shingles in older adults

In one of the largest adult vaccine clinical trials ever, researchers have found that an experimental vaccine against shingles (zoster vaccine) prevented about half of cases of shingles--a painful nerve and skin infection--and dramatically reduced its severity and complications in vaccinated persons who got the disease. The findings appear in the June 2 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Jun 2005

Scientists develop a way to block the signals responsible for neuropathic pain

Remember how it felt the last time you burned your finger on a hot stove? Imagine what it's like to have that burning pain in your hands or feet all the time and know there's virtually nothing you can do about it.

1 Jun 2005

Doctors in the U.S. gravitate to states that cap malpractice awards

According to two studies released this week many doctors are gravitating to states that place caps on malpractice awards, despite the fact that such awards are not the primary cause of skyrocketing insurance premiums.

1 Jun 2005

New study linking pain relievers and breast cancer fails to convince experts

Research in recent years has consistently linked the use of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory pain relievers with a lower risk of colon cancer, but findings about the drugs' effect on breast-cancer risk have been very mixed with some studies suggesting that the pain relievers protect against breast cancer, while others have found no link.

1 Jun 2005