Pain Studies In The News

Feet first? Old mitochondria might be responsible for neuropathy in the extremities
March 3, 2011 Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Results from a new study suggest that the burning, tingling pain of neuropathy may affect feet and hands before other body parts. Scientist say this is because the powerhouses of nerve cells that supply the extremities age and become dysfunctional as they complete the long journey to these areas.
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Doctors lax in monitoring potentially addicting drugs
March 3, 2011 Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Few primary care physicians pay adequate attention to patients taking prescription opioid drugs — despite the potential for abuse, addiction and overdose, according to a new study. The study found lax monitoring even of patients at high risk for opioid misuse, such as those with a history of drug abuse or dependence.
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Extreme flexibility comes with triple migraine risk
March 2, 2011 Source: Cephalalgia
People with severe forms of double jointedness have a greater risk of suffering from migraine headaches, a new study found. These individuals also tend to have more severe and more frequent migraines. Researchers say that the two conditions -- "joint hypermobility syndrome" and migraines may have causes rooted in the same problem – collagen. If the collagen is too elastic, it leads to both flexible joints and stretchy blood vessels.
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Nitric oxide does not appear to improve treatment of sickle cell pain-attacks
March 1, 2011 Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
Among patients with sickle cell disease, treatment of a vaso-occlusive crisis (characterized by episodes of severe pain) in the hospital with inhalation of nitric oxide gas for up to 3 days did not result in a shorter time to resolution of the pain, compared to patients who received placebo, according to a new study.
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Experts call for greater pain assessment in hospitals as 65% of patients report problems
March 1, 2011 Source: Wiley - Blackwell
Nearly two-thirds of the hospital in-patients who took part in a survey had experienced pain in the last 24 hours and 42% of those rated their pain as more than seven out of ten, where ten was the worst pain imaginable. Although eight out of ten patients had been asked about their pain levels by staff, less than half of those had been asked to rate their pain on a simple numeric scale.
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Weight loss improves knee pain from common arthritic condition, study says
February 19, 2011 Source: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
New research on patients who were obese with early-onset knee osteoarthritis showed that those individuals who underwent isolated weight loss via bariatric surgery and lost an average of 57 pounds within the first six months significantly improved their knee pain, stiffness and physical function. Quality of life, activities of daily living and sports activity also improved; all of this without other arthritic treatments.
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Two-year study continues to demonstrate benefits of Kyphon® Balloon Kyphoplasty compared with non-surgical care in treating spinal fractures
February 18, 2011 Source: Medtronic, Inc
Two-year data from the largest multicenter randomized controlled study of Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty for spine fractures indicated that balloon kyphoplasty relieved back pain, increased patient satisfaction and improved mobility and quality of life more than non-surgical care in the treatment of painful spinal fractures.
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Total knee replacement patients functioning well after 20 years, study finds
February 18, 2011 Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Although aging may cause a gradual decline in physical activity, a new study shows that a remarkable functional capacity and activity level continues 20 years of more after total knee replacement (TKR). The study found that nearly half of patients reported unlimited walking and no implant failures after 20 years.
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Pushing limits can help chronic fatigue patients
February 17, 2011 Source: Reuters
Helping chronic fatigue syndrome patients to push their limits and try to overcome the condition produces a better rate of recovery than getting them to accept the illness and adapt to a limited life, new research has found. British researchers conducted the largest trial to date of people with the mysterious and debilitating condition and found that up to 60 percent of patients improved if therapists encouraged them gradually to do more.
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Worse outcomes in workers' compensation patients
February 15, 2011 Source: Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
For workers' compensation patients with chronic low back pain, spinal fusion surgery leads to worse long-term outcomes—including a lower rate of return to work—compared to nonsurgical treatment, suggests a new study. Almost all categories of outcomes were worse for patients undergoing spinal fusion. Just over one-fourth of spinal fusion patients had returned to work, compared to two-thirds of those treated without surgery.
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For back pain, spinal manipulation holds its own
February 14, 2011 Source: Health Behavior News Service
If you're suffering from chronic lower back pain, a new review of existing research finds that spinal manipulation − the kind of hands-on regimen that a chiropractor might perform on you − is as helpful as other common treatments like painkillers. Researchers also found that spinal manipulation is safe.
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Looking at your body reduces pain
February 10, 2011 Source: University College London
Simply looking at your body reduces pain, according to a new study. The research shows that viewing your hand reduces the pain experienced when a hot object touches the skin. Furthermore, the level of pain depends on how large the hand looked -- the larger the hand the greater the effect of pain reduction. This suggests that the experience of pain arises in parts of the brain that represent the size of the body.
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New tool assesses pain in non-communicative patients
February 8, 2011 Source: University of Maryland Baltimore
A valid and reliable tool to assess acute pain in noncommunicative patients has recently been developed by researchers. It consists of two standardized forms for nurses and other care providers to score values of behavioral and physical indicators or signs from the patient. Tests of their Multidimensional Objective Pain Assessment Tool (MOPAT) on non-communicative hospice patients before and after nurses administered medication show that the patients' pain is lessened
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The pain was greater if it will happen again: the effect of anticipated continuation on retrospective discomfort.
Journal of experimental psychology. General. 2011 Feb;140(1):63-75.
Eight studies demonstrate that people are more likely to remember an unpleasant experience as more aversive when they expect this experience to return than when they have no such expectation. This effect results from people's tendency to brace for unpleasant experiences. Specifically, when faced with the anticipated return of the experience, people prepare for the worst, leading them to remember the initial experience as more aversive.
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The American Academy of Pain Management is the nation's largest interdisciplinary/integrative organization serving clinicians
who treat people with pain through education, setting standards of care, and advocacy.
© 2011 American Academy of Pain Management