Feature Channels: Pain

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Loyola Medicine's Cardiovascular Experts Provide Screening and Treatment for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

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In a new discovery, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have detected widespread inflammation in the brains of veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Illness (GWI).

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Consumption of cocoa may improve walking performance for patients with peripheral artery disease, according to the results of a small, preliminary, phase II research trial published today in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation Research.

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The emotional distress that often accompanies a breakup is called social pain, and it may cause sadness, depression and loneliness, as well as actual physical pain, research has shown. A study, published recently in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine may have found an antidote – forgiveness combined with acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.

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Loyola Medicine is among the first to conduct a clinical study using hypnotherapy to treat functional dyspepsia, a gastrointestinal disorder affecting approximately 10 percent of the population.

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University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center (UH) is the first clinical setting in Ohio using special technology to identify harmful bacteria, leading to healing for patients suffering from chronic wounds. Windy Cole, DPM, Medical Director of the UH Ahuja Wound Care Center, conducted research studies utilizing the MolecuLight i:X® and is leading the use of the novel device in the state.

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How and where receptors touch at the surface of a cell may influence the strength of neuronal connections and contribute to identifying better medical interventions for pain, cancer other diseases.

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About 80 percent of Americans will experience low back pain at some point. Patients are often advised to manage their back pain with exercise and mind-body interventions. But, do they really help? Researchers compared and contrasted yoga, tai chi and qigong, and found them to be effective for treatment of low back pain, reporting positive outcomes such as reduction in pain or psychological distress such as depression and anxiety, reduction in pain-related disability, and improved functional ability.

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Cluster headaches are short but extremely painful headaches that can occur many days, or even weeks, in a row. Now a new study has found that people who have this debilitating form of headache may miss twice as many days of work as people without such headaches. The study is published in the February 5, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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An online survey of nearly 500 veterans with Gulf War illness (GWI) suggests a high burden of disease almost three decades after the conflict.

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About 29 million Americans use over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat pain. Every year in the U.S., NSAID use is attributed to approximately 100,000 hospitalizations and 17,000 deaths. All of these drugs have benefits and risks, but deciding which one to use is complicated for health care providers and their patients. To assist in clinical decision-making, researchers address cardiovascular risks and beyond, which include gastrointestinal and kidney side effects of pain relievers.

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Pediatric sedation service at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital provides a critical bridge for children undergoing medical procedures. It's one of only nine programs in the United States to be designated a Center of Excellence by the Society of Pediatric Sedation.

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The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today announced the launch of two new monthly podcasts for physician anesthesiologists, the anesthesia care team, residents, medical students and anesthesiology community.

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The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the South Dakota Society of Anesthesiologists (SDSA) strongly oppose SB 50, which will needlessly dismantle the anesthesia care team model in South Dakota by authorizing nurse anesthetists to administer anesthesia without physician supervision. Additionally, the bill will authorize nurse anesthetists to prescribe patients potentially dangerous controlled substances, including opioids, and perform intricate pain medicine procedures all with no physician oversight or involvement.

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A new study led by physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) reports that the antihypertensive drug amlodipine lowered long-term gout risk compared to two other drugs commonly prescribed to lower blood pressure. The findings are published in the Journal of Hypertension.

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Every day nearly 200 people die from an overdose of drugs or from alcohol poisoning, with opioids responsible for the majority. Recognizing the signs and knowing how to respond to medical emergencies, including carrying and administering naloxone in cases of opioid overdose, can save lives says the ASA.

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Approximately one-quarter of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, with five to 10 percent developing an opioid use disorder or addiction. In a new study, UC San Diego researchers found that opioid dependence produced permanent changes in the brains of rats.

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As we enter a new year and a new decade, many states have enacted legislation affecting the roles of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in terms of practice authority, reimbursement, and prescriptive authority, according to the 32nd Annual Legislative Update in the January issue of The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Many Medicare patients with new episodes of low back pain receive care inconsistent with current guidelines – including high use of opioids and advanced imaging tests, reports a study in the February issue of Medical Care. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Medicinal cannabis might not ease sleep problems in people with chronic pain over the long term, because frequent users might build up tolerance to its sleep-inducing effects, suggests preliminary research published online in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.

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Orthopaedic surgeon and spine expert Srinivasu Kusuma, MD, from the University of Chicago Medicine Medical Group offers five easy tips to stay safe when shoveling snow.

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A series of seven articles in AACN Advanced Critical Care focuses on the challenges of safe, effective pain management in the ICU, including more Americans reporting daily chronic pain and the rapidly increasing prevalence of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder.

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In experiments with genetically engineered and old mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have added to evidence that the vast majority of low back pain in people may be rooted in an overgrowth of pain-sensing nerves into spinal cartilaginous tissue.

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A minimally invasive procedure to treat a common foot and ankle disorder can reduce pain, recovery time, and postsurgery complications while improving functional outcomes.

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Tracking sugar in the blood is crucial for both healthy individuals and diabetic patients. Current methods to measure glucose requires needles and repeated fingerpicks over the day. Fingerpicks can often be painful, deterring patient compliance

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New research shows how second-degree burns cause hard-to-treat chronic pain, and this understanding may be key to treating these complications, common in war veterans.

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Taking steps to help kids prevent common gaming injuries can reduce pain today and potentially reduce the risk of long-term damage.

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At a family medicine clinic in the Boston area, a team led by faculty from Tufts University School of Medicine conducted a five-year case study where they found medical facilities can help physicians to treat chronic pain in a way that will deter opioid misuse, while creating better processes to identify and treat patients who develop an opioid use disorder.

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A new online program can help patients receive behavioral health care for chronic pain, fatigue and depressed mood from the comfort of their home.

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In the months after separating from military service, most veterans are less satisfied with their health than with their work or social relationships, found a study by Veterans Affairs researchers.

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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.

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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 (NAI) for her contributions toward understanding and finding better treatments for pain.

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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.

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Suppose you're a teen or young woman who starts putting on fat, mainly in your legs. Doctors say you're obese – but no matter how much you diet and exercise, you can't lose the fat. After years of weight gain, pain, and swelling, you're finally diagnosed with lipedema – a common but "enigmatic" disease of the peripheral fat. That's the experience of women with lipedema surveyed in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

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Despite a national opioid crisis, prescribed opioid analgesics remain a viable option for pain management for patients with cancer. In effect, patients with cancer represent one of the few groups excluded from most state legislation and policy initiatives on prescribing opioids as well as from opioid stewardship programs of many health systems. However, little is understood about oncology patients’ opioid self-management practices and potential safety risk that may stem from these practices.

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Tired of living with painful arthritic knees, 54-year-old Deborah Brown’s interest was piqued when she saw a recruitment flyer for a clinical trial on an innovative pain treatment at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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A new study published in Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology details the first study of its kind in the U.S. to examine the use of genicular artery embolization (GAE) for extended treatment of knee pain caused by osteoarthritis (OA). Principal investigator of the study, Ari Isaacson, MD, clinical associate professor of vascular and interventional radiology in the UNC School of Medicine, says the results are positive.

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In a UC San Diego study, rats with spinal cord injuries experienced a three-fold increase in motor activity when treated with neural progenitor cells that had been pre-conditioned with a modified form of tPA, a drug commonly used to treat non-hemorrhagic stroke.

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Hands Down Better, a website launched by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), is a new resource for those who seek alternatives to pain medications and surgery for common musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain, neck pain, joint pain and headaches.

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Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital announced today that PetSmart Charities has offered a gift of $75,000 to extend the tenure of Professor Bunsen Honeydew the hospital’s first of three facility dogs, through October 2020.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that depression and anxiety in patients with hip pain are associated with worse outcomes following hip surgery, including more postsurgical pain, slower recovery and inadequate return to activity.

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Residents of states where cannabis has been legalized are more likely to believe it has beneficial effects - including health benefits in treatment of pain and anxiety or depression, reports a survey study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Identifying the type of pain an adult with sickle cell disease (SCD) experiences may be useful in improving treatment, according to a new study by researchers at Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

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Head and neck injuries incurred while driving or walking with a cellphone are on the rise – and correlates with the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and release of Pokémon Go in 2016, a Rutgers study found.

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The pediatric surgical community recently released patient education resources to inform parents and teens about safe pain control after surgery.

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About one-third of patients newly diagnosed with the most common form of lung cancer have moderate to severe symptoms of depression, a new study suggests.

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Long-term treatment with gabapentin, a commonly prescribed drug for nerve pain, could help restore upper limb function after a spinal cord injury, new research in mice suggests.

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DARPA-funded project called STOP PAIN aimed at the design of safer, more effective pain treatments Research to focus on understanding the biology of pain as a way to transform clinical care, help stem the public health crisis fueled by opioids Efforts will encompass expertise from fields including neurobiology, stem cell biology, artificial intelligence and computational and medicinal chemistry