Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Truven Health Analytics names Banner Heart among 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

Banner Heart Hospital has been named one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, formerly the health care business of Thomson Reuters.

5 Oct 2012

Sublingual immunotherapy highly effective for chronic allergy and asthma sufferers

Could it be that those with allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and childhood nasal allergies can finally get a break from their allergies and their allergy shots? Chicago's leading allergy, asthma, and immunology expert, Dr. Brian Rotskoff, who treats a large number of Chicago pediatric allergy patients, is happy to say, "Yes!"

5 Oct 2012

SafeToSleep launches Sleep and Breathing Monitor

SafeToSleep announced the launch of its innovative new baby product, the Sleep and Breathing Monitor, a breakthrough in infant sleep safety that monitors each breath of a sleeping baby with hospital accuracy and streams the breath wave to a smartphone as it occurs.

5 Oct 2012

Study explains why some people are easier to hypnotize than others

Not everyone is able to be hypnotized, and new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows how the brains of such people differ from those who can easily be.

5 Oct 2012

Researchers determine nature and frequency of pain assessments in Canadian children

A multi-site study published in The Journal of Pain showed a wide range of pain intensity scores in hospitalized infants and a significant number of them were found to have moderate to severe pain during their hospital stays.

5 Oct 2012

Top-line data from Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 Phase 3 trial on pneumococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. today announced top-line data assessing immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, absorbed]) in adults 18 to 49 years of age.

5 Oct 2012

Longer looks: The time is now for community health workers; Patients sharing in medical decisions; One doctor's plea for help

By the time Frederick Pegues Jr. was resting in bed at Temple University Hospital, the irony struck him hard. Here, he had just finished a month-long course in being a community health worker, sponsored by Temple University Hospital. He had learned how to help patients navigate a complicated health system. Yet he himself had not been able to get the help he needed.

5 Oct 2012

Comorbid physical, psychiatric disorders common in BD

Findings from the Singapore Mental Health Study show that over two-thirds of individuals with bipolar disorder have other lifetime mental disorders, with approximately half also experiencing at least one chronic physical condition.

4 Oct 2012

Mexiletine improves patient-reported stiffness in nondystrophic myotonia

An older medication originally approved to treat heart problems eases the symptoms of a very rare muscle disease that often leaves its sufferers stiff and in a good deal of pain, physicians and researchers report in the Oct. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Oct 2012

An expanded role for some nurses?

A federal agency is weighing whether to reimburse a specialized type of nurse for giving chronic-pain treatments, a move opposed by some doctors and one that critics say could complicate the battle against prescription painkiller abuse.

4 Oct 2012

Study to determine link between foot injuries and ill-fitting shoes

Loyola University Medical Center researchers are conducting a first-of-its kind study of marathon runners to determine if there is link between foot injuries and ill-fitting shoes.

4 Oct 2012

Biceps tenodesis hastens recovery, cuts rehabilitation time for labrum tears

Athletics have always been a part of Jade Dismore's life. The 27-year-old native of South Africa grew up playing tennis and swimming; as an adult she became an avid runner and recreational volleyball player. For several years she felt soreness in her shoulder, but assumed it was nothing serious. As she began training for her first triathlon, the pain became increasingly severe. After trying to manage the pain on her own for years, Dismore decided it was time to seek medical attention.

4 Oct 2012

Babies’ facial expressions after jab reveal pain type

Researchers have discerned seven distinct facial expressions in babies immediately after vaccination, which they say could signal different types of pain and aid communication of distress to caregivers.

3 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 3, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: "Medicare's new readmission penalties for hospitals just got a bit tougher. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has discovered errors in its initial calculations in August. As a result, 1,422 hospitals with comparatively high readmission rates will lose slightly more money than they were expecting, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the revised penalties. Fifty-five hospitals will lose less than were previously told."

3 Oct 2012

DFG-funded project to research into complex regional pain syndrome

German Research Foundation funds a three-year joint project of the Mainz University Medical Center and the University of Münster to the tune of about EUR 460,000.

3 Oct 2012

Study finds Medicare may favor skilled-nursing facilities over hospice

According to findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, almost a third of Medicare beneficiaries use their benefits to pay for nursing home end-of-life services.

3 Oct 2012

Mexiletine use improves stiffness in patients with nondystrophic myotonias

Preliminary research finds that for patients with nondystrophic myotonias (NDMs), rare diseases that affect the skeletal muscle and cause functionally limiting stiffness and pain, use of the anti-arrhythmic medication mexiletine resulted in improvement in patient-reported stiffness, according to a preliminary study in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Oct 2012