Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Hospice services improve quality of care and support for dementia patients

Hospice services substantially improved the provision of care and support for nursing home patients dying of dementia and their families, according to an analysis of survey responses from hundreds of bereaved family members.

29 Jul 2011

Tips to make family vacations less hazardous for kids and parents

Family vacations live in infamy. Sometimes it's for the lasting memories of family bonding and new wonders experienced together, and sometimes for the horrors of just trying to get to a destination.

29 Jul 2011

Positive data from Histogenics' NeoCart Phase 2 study on knee cartilage injury

Histogenics Corporation, a privately held regenerative medicine company, today announced the presentation of positive Phase 2 data for the NeoCart Autologous Cartilage Tissue Implant.

29 Jul 2011

Physiological instability precedes an hour before naturally occurring panic attacks

Panic attacks that seem to strike sufferers out-of-the-blue are not without warning after all, according to new research.

28 Jul 2011

Arterial spin labeling shows areas of brain activity in chronic low back pain patients

Research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) uses a new imaging technique, arterial spin labeling, to show the areas of the brain that are activated when patients with low back pain have a worsening of their usual, chronic pain.

28 Jul 2011

Cognitive behavioral therapy and self-help may improve unexplained symptoms of pain, fatigue

A new type of therapy may help people with symptoms such as pain, weakness, or dizziness that can't be explained by an underlying disease, according to a study published in the July 27, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jul 2011

Yoga reduces symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia

A new study by York University researchers finds that practicing yoga reduces the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia.

28 Jul 2011

New LEAP technique can restore heart rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation

A high-amplitude, and often painful, electrical shock is the only currently available method for treating certain cases of chronic cardiac arrhythmia. But now a new technique using much weaker impulses has been developed by an international team of physicists and cardiologists, including Alain Pumir, CNRS researcher at the ENS Lyon physics laboratory.

28 Jul 2011

U.S. food labelling system has a positive impact

Around a sixth of fast food customers used calorie information and, on average, bought food with lower calories since the introduction of a labelling system in the US, says a new study published on bmj.com today.

28 Jul 2011

Researchers draw on ontology to define pain

All over the world, patients with chronic pain struggle to express how they feel to the doctors and health-care providers who are trying to understand and treat them. Now, a University at Buffalo psychiatrist is attempting to help patients suffering from chronic pain and their doctors by drawing on ontology, the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being or existence.

28 Jul 2011

New study shows high prevalence of gout in the U.S.

A new study shows the prevalence of gout in the U.S. has risen over the last twenty years and now affects 8.3 million (4%) Americans.

28 Jul 2011

TMS rolls out MUNI for law enforcement and other government agencies

Total Medical Solutions (TMS), specializing in complex care for workers' compensation, has rolled out MUNI for municipalities, law enforcement and other government agencies.

27 Jul 2011

Women with early-stage breast cancer do not benefit from lymph node removal

A new study shows that removing lymph nodes due to the presence of occult, or microscopic, cancer cells found in the sentinel lymph node - the one closest to the tumor -- has no impact on survival outcomes of women with early-stage breast cancer.

27 Jul 2011

Cocaine-free topical anaesthetics can effectively treat pain caused by torn skin

While some pain killers need to be injected into the damaged tissue in order to work, topical anaesthetics only need to be spread on the surface. The earliest examples of "topical" anaesthetics contained cocaine, but now a new systematic review has shown that newer agents that don't contain cocaine can effectively treat pain caused by torn skin.

27 Jul 2011

High-dose vitamin D reduces musculoskeletal pain in breast cancer patients

High-dose vitamin D relieves joint and muscle pain for many breast cancer patients taking estrogen-lowering drugs, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

27 Jul 2011

Watson second quarter net revenue increases 24% to $1.1 billion

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported net revenue of $1.1 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011, an increase of 24 percent when compared to $875.3 million in the second quarter 2010.

26 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 26, 2011

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "In the controlled chaos of an hospital emergency department, ensuring that patients are pain-free and can make informed choices about their care often takes a back seat to assessing and stabilizing them and moving them through the system as fast as possible.

26 Jul 2011

Tumor marker, endoscopic ultrasound more likely to detect stage 1 pancreatic cancer

Researchers from New England report in a new study that using a tumor marker, serum CA 19-9, combined with an endoscopic ultrasound if the tumor marker is elevated, is more likely to detect stage 1 pancreatic cancer in a high-risk population than by using the standard means of detection.

26 Jul 2011

Diabetes drug rosiglitazone can reduce development of neuropathic pain

The diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) can control inflammation leading to nerve damage and abnormal pain responses, suggests a paper in the August issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

26 Jul 2011

Fluoride supplements neither safe or effective

Sodium fluoride supplements "have not been found by FDA to be safe or effective," according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's website, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc..

25 Jul 2011