Patients with fibromyalgia treated with a synthetic form of marijuana, nabilone, showed significant reductions in pain and anxiety in a first-of-its-kind study, published in The Journal of Pain.
The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today announced the recipients of its second annual Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards recognizing the nation's outstanding pain care centers. Six multidisciplinary pain programs were recognized.
Journalists are invited to cover proceedings of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society, the leading multidisciplinary professional organization in the United States dedicated to advancing pain-related research, education, treatment and team-oriented professional practice.
As controversy swirls about proper clinical use of opioids and other potent pain medications, research reported at the American Pain Society annual meeting shows that, contrary to widespread beliefs, less than 3 percent of patients with no history of drug abuse who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain will show signs of possible drug abuse or dependence.
For low-back pain patients and their doctors, the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, is expanding its evidence-based, clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain to include recommendations on surgery and other interventional treatments. The expanded guideline was previewed in a symposium at the APS Annual Scientific Meeting.
Though some adults with chronic pain often say they experienced an adverse event in childhood (such as abuse), these events are no more common than amongst adults who are pain free, according to research presented today at the American Pain Society annual meeting.
The American Pain Society (APS) today praised the US House of Representatives for taking action to improve pain management for America's servicemen and women and their families. The House on May 22 passed a Defense Department authorization bill for FY 2009 containing provisions of the Loebsack Military Pain Care Act. The Loebsack measure now goes to the Senate.
Though opioid pain medications are effective for treating chronic pain, many physicians are reluctant to prescribe them fearing potential for addiction and abuse. Harvard researchers may have an answer to this problem with a new screening tool, published in The Journal of Pain, to predict which pain patients are most likely to exhibit aberrant medication-related behavior.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition that causes widespread pain and tenderness throughout the body. A University of Michigan study, published in The Journal of Pain, shows that fibromyalgia is associated with central nervous system abnormalities evidenced by patients' elevated sensitivity to auditory and pressure sensations.
The growing body of evidence that marijuana (cannabis) may be effective as a pain reliever has been expanded with publication of a new study in The Journal of Pain reporting that patients with nerve pain showed reduced pain intensity from smoking marijuana.
Drug-use surveys have shown an increasing prevalence of non-medical use of opioid pain medications. University of Chicago researchers writing in The Journal of Pain report that critical information would be learned about the problem if motives for non-medical use were studied more extensively.
Charles E. Inturrisi, PhD, professor of pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College, has begun a two-year term as president of the American Pain Society. He succeeds Judith Paice, PhD, RN in the organization's top leadership role.
Reactivation of genital herpes is linked in some cases with the emergence of widespread neuropathic pain, according to a Finnish study reported in The Journal of Pain.
Patients with accident or trauma related chronic pain often have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. What isn't clearly known, however, is how PTSD relates to mood disorders and pain severity in chronic pain patients.
For workers with chronic low back pain, taking opioid pain medications can significantly improve their ability to lift and perform other work-related physical tasks, according to study published in The Journal of Pain, the peer review publication of the American Pain Society.
For most chronic pain patients, achieving effective pain management requires ongoing communication with their physicians. Today, the American Pain Society (APS) expressed strong support for the Joint Commission's new patient outreach and education program, called Speak Out, intended to teach patients to engage in productive dialogue with their doctors about pain.
The American Pain Society has expressed strong support for action by Congress and President, which resulted in the enactment today of two pain care bills, the Veterans Pain Care Policy Act and the Military Pain Care Policy Act of 2008.
Many women separated from abusive partners still experience high-disability chronic pain after almost two years, according to Canadian researchers writing in The Journal of Pain, the peer review journal of the American Pain Society.
A review of more than 4 million insured patients, with private coverage and Medicaid, showed that rates of opioid use did not differ widely between non-cancer pain conditions but there were higher rates of opioid use among Medicaid patients.
Again next year, the American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, will honor the country's outstanding pain care programs in its acclaimed Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards Program. APS is accepting awards submissions until Dec. 14, 2008.
Federal funding for pain research is declining sharply, more than 9 percent a year since 2003, according to a new study published in The Journal of Pain. Pain research, as a result, now accounts for only 0.6 percent of all grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), despite the high prevalence of chronic pain in the U.S.
A prestigious panel of pain-management experts representing the American Pain Society (APS) and the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) has published the first comprehensive clinical practice guideline to assist clinicians in prescribing potent opioid pain medications for patients with chronic non-cancer pain. The long-awaited guideline appears in the current issue of The Journal of Pain, the APS peer-reviewed publication.
Smokers who still refuse to kick the habit after being diagnosed with lung cancer experience higher levels of pain from the disease than nonsmokers and former smokers, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain.
Surprisingly, there is little understanding about the pain experience in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) other than measurements of pain intensity. A team of Canadian researchers addressed this knowledge gap in a study of 60 RA patients to assess their pain experiences, determine satisfaction with pain control, and explore barriers that may inhibit optimal pain management.
Use of opioid pain medications may contribute to an increase in sensitivity to some types of pain, according to an Australian study published in The Journal of Pain.
You are invited to cover proceedings of the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society, the leading multidisciplinary professional organization in the United States dedicated to advancing pain-related research, education, treatment and team-oriented professional practice.
Journalists are invited to cover proceedings of the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society to be held May 7- 9 at the San Diego Convention Center.
British researchers writing in The Journal of Pain, the peer-review publication of the American Pain Society, found that individuals with high levels of anxiety due to chronic pain exhibit more emotional distress and disability, but the use of pain coping strategies can mediate this effect.
Distraction through virtual-reality technology was found to reduce pain perceptions after repeated exposures in a University of Maryland study published in The Journal of Pain.
What does an English professor have to say to a group of pain management specialists? Plenty. Noted writer, teacher and scholar, David Morris, PhD, addressed a plenary session of the American Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting here and urged his audience to become proficient at using narrative skills. He emphasized that narrative skills should be learned just like other medical abilities, and outcomes from an unskilled approach to narrative can adversely impact both pain treatment and research.
The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today announced the winners of its prestigious annual achievement awards at a gala held during the organization's annual scientific meeting. Every year, APS rewards excellence in the field of pain management by presenting six separate awards for career achievement, pain scholarship, education and public service, advocacy on behalf of children, outstanding service to APS, and early career achievements.
Pain management methods used by US Army doctors on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan have helped wounded soldiers cope with injuries among the most painful known to medicine. Today, the American Pain Society honored the acute and chronic pain management teams at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center with a special commendation for excellence in pain management for their superior achievements in pain interventions for wounded soldiers.
The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today honored the recipients of its third annual Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards recognizing the nation's outstanding pain care centers.
Why would two patients undergoing the same surgery report vastly different levels of post-operative pain and are genetic factors mainly responsible? A leading pain researcher in a plenary address at the American Pain Society (APS) Annual Scientific Conference believes this discrepancy is more understandable if clinicians acknowledge that pain is a variable personal experience that is influenced by genetics but also involves multiple interactive biopsychosocial processes.
The American Pain Society (APS) has issued a new clinical practice guideline for low back pain that emphasizes the use of non-invasive treatments over interventional procedures, as well as shared decision-making between provider and patient. The findings are published in the current (May 1, 2009) issue of the journal Spine.
The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that unintended consequences from proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) governing the use of opioid pain medications could impair physicians' ability to treat patients with severe, persistent pain.
It is well known that chronic pain and clinical depression go together, but a study in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society, shows that the connection between pain and depression is strongest in middle-age women and African Americans.
Previous studies have shown that fibromyalgia is associated with reductions in gray matter in parts of the brain, but the exact cause is not known. Using sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers from Louisiana State University, writing in The Journal of Pain, found that alterations in levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine might be responsible for gray matter reductions.
A German study published in The Journal of Pain showed that an external suction technique mainly used outside the U.S., called cupping, is effective for providing temporary relief of pain from carpal tunnel syndrome (CPS).
Australian researchers writing in The Journal of Pain reported there is significant improvement in pain management for hospitalized infants undergoing painful procedures, such as heel lances to draw blood.
For centuries, acupuncturists have inserted and manipulated needles at prescribed points to achieve therapeutic benefit, such as pain relief. Research reported in The Journal of Pain shows that ancient acupuncture meridians coincide with known myofacial trigger point regions, as described in the Trigger Point Manual, and may provide potential for novel approaches for treating chronic myofacial pain.
In a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Pain Society (APS, www.ampainsoc.org) petitioned the agency, on behalf of the terminally ill and their families, to modify a restricted distribution program for the newly approved pain medication Onsolis, a short acting product that delivers fentanyl through the mouth's mucous membranes.
Women with incontinence, respiratory disorders and gastrointestinal problems have increased risk for development of back pain, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain, the peer review publication of the American Pain Society.
Clinicians treating patients with chronic pain must assess their alcohol use and, if necessary, provide counseling regarding problems associated with mixing alcohol and pain medications, according to a study published in The Journal of Pain, the peer review publication of the American Pain Society.
A new study reports the side effects of oxycodone, a widely used opioid pain medication, are similar in healthy older adults as in younger age groups, therefore, clinicians should not shy away from prescribing the drug to relieve pain in older patients.
Breast cancer patients treated with the chemotherapy drug Taxol (paclitaxel) are more likely to develop chronic neuropathic pain, according to research published in The Journal of Pain, the peer review publication of the American Pain Society.
The American Pain Society today announced its support for a new FDA initiative to encourage consumers to remove unused pain drugs from home medicine cabinets.
A team of Canadian researchers probed 45 pediatric clinicians to learn about possible indicators that could help identify infants with chronic pain and provide guidance on how to differentiate chronic pain from lingering pain caused by medical procedures.
With increasing numbers of men and women serving in combat and risking traumatic injury and limb loss, a new study published in The Journal of Pain, the peer-reviewed publication of the American Pain Society, concludes that self-reported amputation-specific pain severity is similar in men and women but there are considerable gender variations in overall pain outcomes, such as emotional health and pain-coping responses.