Pain Studies In The News

Cancer doctors score low on pain management
Source: Reuters
According to a new survey, many U.S. cancer doctors say they are good at managing their patients' pain, but most failed to choose the right treatment options in a test and say that figuring out the level of pain patients have is still a major barrier to care. The findings came from a follow-up to a survey that found a lack of good pain management among U.S. oncologists in 1990 and show that more work needs to be done to educate doctors about pain.
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Long-term study sheds light on jaw pain disorders
November 2011 Source: University of Maryland Baltimore
People with disorders of long-term jaw pain were much more sensitive to mildly painful sensations elsewhere in the body, more aware of body sensations, and experienced greater heart rate increases under mild stress, according to a new study. The researchers report that chronic TMJD is at least partially linked to a person's perception of and ability to suppress pain, which is determined by the body's physiological regulatory systems.
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Talk therapy by phone may ease fibromyalgia: study
Source: Archives of Internal Medicine
Talk therapy on the phone helped people with chronic fibromyalgia-related pain feel better in a study that looked at phone therapy as a potential cost-effective alternative to standard treatments. Researchers found that about one-third of people who had cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT phone sessions felt "much better" or "very much better" after a few months, compared to less than one in ten who continued their usual treatment.
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Research yields insights about HIV-related headaches
December 6, 2011 Source: University of Mississippi
A new study shows that patients with poorly-controlled HIV/AIDS are most prone to suffer also from frequent, severe migraines at rates that far exceed those of the general population. Specifically, the results of the study show that headache affects one of every two HIV/AIDS patients, but these are not your typical, run-of-the-mill tension headaches. Approximately 27.5 percent of the patients studied met criteria for chronic migraine.
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Headaches after traumatic brain injury highest in adolescents and girls
December 6, 2011 Source: Seattle Children's Hospital
More than half a million children in the U.S. sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. In a significant new study, researchers analyzed the prevalence of headaches three and 12 months after mild, moderate or severe TBI in children ages 5 to 17, and discovered the risk of headache was higher in adolescents (ages 13 to 17) and in girls.
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Acupuncture may ease severe nerve pain associated with cancer treatment, study suggests
December 2011 Source: BMJ
Cancer patients treated with taxanes, vinca alkaloids, or platinum compounds can develop a condition known as chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. A small new study suggests that acupuncture may help ease the severe nerve pain associated with the condition. In 5 out of 6 patients given acupuncture, both the speed and the intensity of nerve signaling improved. These patients also said they felt their condition had improved.
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Single injection allows relief from pain for 8 months following spinal cord injury
December 2, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
A one-time injection immediately after spinal cord injury can limit pain for an extended period of time. Researchers discovered, through testing in an animal model, that an injection of fibronectin into the spinal cord activates specific signaling pathways and results in pain-curbing effects.
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Mortality risk in patients with chest pains increased by prior hospitalization for mental illness
December 2, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
A new study found that the death rate one year after hospitalisation for NCCP (non-cardiac chest pain) was higher in men and women with a previous psychiatric hospitalisation than without, with cardiovascular disease accounting for the majority of deaths among men and women with a previous psychiatric hospitalisation.
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A doubling seen in the use of opioid painkillers for abdominal pain
December 1, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Across U.S. outpatient clinics between 1997 and 2008, opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled, according to a new study. The researchers speculate that the growth in opioid use has likely been driven by numerous factors, including a tendency to generalize recommendations for the use of opioids in treating pain, campaigns to recognize pain as the "fifth vital sign," and widespread direct-to-consumer advertising.
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Spousal communication impacts partner's pain coping
November 30, 2011 Source: American Pain Society
Chronic pain suffered by one spouse can affect marital communication and influence the partner's ability to cope with a chronic pain condition, according to a new study. But contrary to previous research, the study found that husbands with pain are more likely to respond negatively to spousal invalidation than were wives.
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Methadone patients and harmful patterns of painkiller prescriptions
November 29, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
A new study has shown harmful prescription patterns of powerful painkillers among a substantial number of Ontario patients who received methadone therapy to treat their opioid addiction. On average, this group of methadone patients had 12 non-methadone opioid prescriptions a year during a seven-year period from 2003-2010.
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Painful migraines linked to higher depression risk
November 26, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Individuals who have migraines have a higher chance of experiencing major depressive episodes (MDEs), a new study shows. The study's authors added that the higher risk is there the other way round - that those with major depressive episodes are also at a higher risk of having migraines. Migraine sufferers have a 60% higher risk of suffering from MDEs compared to people who never have migraines and those who experienced MDEs have a 40% higher chance of developing migraine, compared to people without MDEs.
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Less harmful pain relief medicines may result from understanding of how paracetamol works
November 26, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Researchers have discovered how one of the most common household painkillers works, which could pave the way for less harmful pain relief medications to be developed in the future. The researchers identified that a protein called TRPA1, found on the surface of nerve cells, is a key molecule needed for paracetamol to be an effective painkiller.
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An IBS patient's interpretation of symptom severity is affected by psychological factors
November 24, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
A patient's viewpoint of the severity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms can be influenced not only by physical symptoms of IBS but broader psychological problems, according to a new study. Pain catastrophisizing, somatization and anxiety sensitivity had a direct association with GI symptoms, but not with overall IBS severity. This suggests that psychological factors affect severity through their impact on GI symptoms.
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Psychological intervention reduces disability and depression in adolescents with fibromyalgia
November 22, 2011 Source: Wiley-Blackwell
A recent trial shows cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) reduces functional disability and depressive symptoms in adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia. The psychological intervention was found to be safe and effective, and proved to be superior to disease management education.
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Titanium debris from artificial joints may trigger painful inflammation
November 21, 2011 Source: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
A new study suggests that tiny titanium particles that flake away from the artificial joints through normal wear and tear may play a direct role in painful joint inflammation. The type of inflammatory response that ensued when titanium particles were introduced to mice is typically associated with allergic responses and parasitic worm infections and results in the generation of immune cells called alternatively activated macrophages.
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Improved method of electrical stimulation could help treat damaged nerves
November 21, 2011 Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
A research team recently described a new method of nerve stimulation that reduces the device's electrical threshold by 40 percent, compared with traditional FES therapy. This method not only prevents electrical impulses from traveling along a nerve but also uses significantly less current required by existing FES therapy. This could be of particular benefit for the treatment of patients with different forms of paralysis.
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New way to boost potency of natural pain relief chemical in body
November 21, 2011 Source: University of California - Irvine
Researchers have discovered a new means of enhancing the effects of anandamide -- a natural, marijuana-like chemical in the body that provides pain relief. They identified an "escort" protein in brain cells that transports anandamide to sites within the cell where enzymes break it down. They found that blocking this protein -- called FLAT -- increases anandamide's potency.
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Arthritis patients seek alternative treatments
November 16, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Rheumatoid arthritis patients will try almost anything to relieve symptoms -- including special jewelry, household oils and even homemade concoctions – a new study reports. Being aware of complementary and alternative medicines use allows providers to advise patients regarding potentially beneficial, harmful or ineffective treatments.
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Fibromyalgia risk greater among females with poor sleeping habits
November 16, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Investigators have identified a link between sleep problems and an increased risk in women developing fibromyalgia. The risk of developing the syndrome increased with severity of sleep problems and the association was stronger among women who were middle-age and older compared to younger women.
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Aerobic exercise in fibromyalgia patients improves memory efficiency
November 14, 2011 Source: Medical News Today
Areas of the brain responsible for pain processing and cognitive performance changed in fibromyalgia patients who exercised following a medication holiday, researchers report. They say the changes indicate brain functioning is more streamlined after an exercise intervention because less of the brain's resources is devoted to processing bothersome fibromyalgia perceptions such as pain.
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Drug brings relief long-term in fibromyalgia
November 11, 2011 Source: Arthritis & Rheumatism
Patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia who remain on therapy can achieve long-term pain relief from treatment with the selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor milnacipran (Savella), according to a new study. After obtaining about a 25% decrease in pain scores within three months of therapy with milnacipran, the 217 patients who stayed on open-label treatment maintained that relief level to at least 38 months.
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Elderly emergency patients less likely to receive pain medication than middle-aged patients
November 11, 2011 Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
A new study finds that people 75 years old or older are less likely to receive any pain medication in hospital emergency departments than middle aged people – those between 35 and 54 years old. These differences remained even after researchers took into account how much pain the patients were having
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Study helps eliminate causes for joint pain linked to commonly used breast cancer drugs
November 11, 2011 Source: Georgetown University Medical Center
Researchers exploring why some women who take a common breast cancer drug develop serious joint pain have eliminated two possible causes: inflammatory arthritis and autoimmune disease. Because of these findings, researchers say women should be encouraged to continue taking the medication to gain its full benefit.
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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