Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Research reveals how the brain balances pleasure and pain

As our brains take in information about the world and use it to steer our actions, two key principles guide our choices: seek pleasure and avoid pain.

31 Dec 2019

Novela Neurotech’s “smart” neural interface displayed at Creative Destruction Lab

Novela Neurotech, a MedTech company developing AI-powered wireless, "smart" neural interface systems, joins Canada's Creative Destruction Lab to further fine-tune its health technologies to the needs of patients with difficult neurological disorders.

31 Dec 2019

Proper disposal of leftover medication can help reduce antibiotic resistance

Proper disposal of leftover medication, particularly antibiotics and opioids, can help reduce antibiotic resistance, prevent children from being poisoned and stop the misuse of addiction-forming drugs.

31 Dec 2019

Individualized pelvic physical therapy decreases incontinence, pain in post-prostatectomy patients

For decades, therapy to strengthen pelvic muscles has been the standard treatment for men dealing with urinary incontinence after prostate surgery. But a new study from UT Southwestern's Departments of Urology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation suggests that may not be the best approach.

30 Dec 2019

A reality check on artificial intelligence: Are health care claims overblown?

Health products powered by artificial intelligence, or AI, are streaming into our lives, from virtual doctor apps to wearable sensors and drugstore chatbots.

30 Dec 2019

Proton therapy reduces the relative risk of side effects for cancer patients

Proton therapy leads to significantly lower risk of side effects severe enough to lead to unplanned hospitalizations for cancer patients when compared with traditional radiation, while cure rates between the two groups are almost identical.

26 Dec 2019

Many stomach cancer patients under 60 have a 'genetically and clinically distinct' disease

Many people under 60 who develop stomach cancer have a "genetically and clinically distinct" disease, new Mayo Clinic research has discovered.

26 Dec 2019

Scientists unveil how Zika virus replicates

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus infection a global threat during the peak of its outbreak in 2016. Since then, scientists and health experts raced to understand the virus better to develop novel and effective vaccines and treatments for the disease. Now, a team of researchers in China revealed how a protein in the virus reshapes its host to boost viral replication.

23 Dec 2019

AAD honors board-certified dermatologists for treatment of a patient with aquagenic keratoderma

The American Academy of Dermatology has honored board-certified dermatologists Jean-Pierre Galliani, MD, FAAD, and Naomi Johansen, MD, FAAD, as Patient Care Heroes for their diagnosis and treatment of a patient with aquagenic keratoderma, a rare condition that causes extreme, painful wrinkles of the palms after exposure to water.

23 Dec 2019

Behavioral intervention and risk education can improve parents' prompt disposal of leftover opioids

Leftover prescription opioids pose big risks to kids, yet most parents keep their own and their child's unused painkillers even after they're no longer medically necessary for pain.

23 Dec 2019

Texas law highlights dilemma over care for patients with no hope of survival

Critically ill Tinslee Lewis - a Fort Worth baby embroiled in a dispute between her family and a hospital over whether to continue life-sustaining treatment - is the most recent public face of the heartbreaking and intractable dilemmas often confronted quietly in intensive care units.

23 Dec 2019

SLU researcher honored for finding better pain treatments

Researcher Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and physiology at Saint Louis University, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for her contributions toward understanding and finding better treatments for pain.

23 Dec 2019

2,500 vaping-related hospitalizations in the US

Over the past few months, there was a sudden surge of patients presenting with mysterious lung disease, e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI), which was tied to e-cigarette use. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more than 2,500 hospitalizations and a total of 54 deaths.

22 Dec 2019

New software helps prevent ICU delirium and improve patient outcomes

Intensive care unit delirium, a fertile area of clinical research and patient care innovation associated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is beginning to reshape how commercial electronic health record systems are engineered with regard to intensive care.

22 Dec 2019

Freestanding emergency departments associated with increase in spending for care

With emergency department visits spiking around the holidays, patients may be inclined to seek care at freestanding emergency departments in an urgent situation.

22 Dec 2019

Study finds increase in high-strength painkiller poisonings among children

The proportion of high-strength painkiller poisonings among children which result in emergency hospital admissions has increased, according to research published in the peer-reviewed journal Clinical Toxicology.

22 Dec 2019

Questions to ask before a surgical procedure

Patients usually have questions before a surgical procedure. Doctors like to know their patients are involved in their own care, and they appreciate listening to their concerns, answering their questions and knowing they're planning on a successful recovery.

20 Dec 2019

A veteran started vaping THC to cope with chronic pain. Then he got very sick.

As vaping has grown more popular in recent years, the trend has been fueled by the habit’s pleasurable allure: Compared with smoking cigarettes or pot, vaping is discreet and less smelly. Vaping fluids come in hundreds of flavors. There’s no tar or other byproducts of burning. And vape pens are high-tech, customizable and sleek.

20 Dec 2019

California attempts to revive compassionate cannabis programs

For years, Richard Manning knew what he needed to cope with his physical pain, rage and PTSD — much of which he traced to a career-ending knee injury he suffered while on a domestic security detail with the Marines.

20 Dec 2019