Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Cymbalta, treatment for major depression hits the market

Cymbalta, a new treatment for major depression, is now available by prescription in pharmacies across the United States, Eli Lilly and Company has announced.

26 Aug 2004

FDA reinforces use of Sustiva in first-line HIV combination therapy

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced that Sustiva® (efavirenz) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to include new long-term virologic and clinical data from BMS Study 006 in its prescribing information.

26 Aug 2004

Cymbalta, a new treatment for major depression

Cymbalta, a new treatment for major depression, is now available by prescription in pharmacies across the United States, Eli Lilly and Company have announced.

25 Aug 2004

Early cholesterol-lowering drug therapy reduces artery-clogging plaque

Early cholesterol-lowering drug therapy after hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome appears to reduce artery-clogging plaque, according to a study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Aug 2004

High blood pressure may help people to stay calm

High blood pressure is known to reduce sensitivity to pain, but a new study shows that it may have a more general influence on emotional response by smoothing out emotional high and lows.

25 Aug 2004

Blueberries may lower cholesterol

New research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that blueberries may lower cholesterol as effectively as a commercial drug and have the potential for fewer adverse side effects.

23 Aug 2004

A trip to Mars might sound appealing, but it would be a one-way-trip

A space traveller’s dream of one day holidaying on Mars might sound appealing, but it would be a one-way-trip according to Australian researchers at the University of Queensland.

23 Aug 2004

Pfizer drug effectively treats overactive bladder symptoms

Women with mixed incontinence, a combination of overactive bladder and stress incontinence, reported a greater treatment benefit for overactive bladder symptoms from DETROL® LA (tolterodine tartrate extended release capsules) than placebo, according to new study results published in the August issue of Urology.

21 Aug 2004

COX2 inhibitor lumiracoxib could be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis

The use of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is widespread to reduce the pain associated with osteoarthritis; however the sideeffects of these drugs can be severe, sometimes leading to gastro-intestinal ulcer complications which account for around 7000 US and 1000 UK deaths each year.

21 Aug 2004

Study to compare prostate surgery and drugs

The Minimally Invasive Surgical Therapies (MIST) Consortium for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) has launched a new study to compare long-term benefits and risks of transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) and transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT) to a regimen of the alpha-1 inhibitor alfuzosin and the 5-alpha reductase inhibitor finasteride.

20 Aug 2004

Sea snail offers natural healing powers for a range of illnesses from chronic pain to diseases of the brain

A beautiful, but often deadly, snail from the sea has been revealed as a largely untapped source of natural healing powers for a range of illnesses from chronic pain to diseases of the brain.

20 Aug 2004

Florida-based online pharmacy illegally prescribed the powerful painkiller Vicodin to an Illinois state employee

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Secretary Fernando Grillo today announced a suit has been filed against a Florida-based online pharmacy that illegally prescribed the powerful painkiller Vicodin to an employee in Madigan's office posing as a consumer who had injured his back after slipping on ice.

20 Aug 2004

60 percent of people with Crohn's disease have required surgery within the past five years

According to results released today from the newest survey of people with Crohn's disease, "Voices of Crohn's," 60 percent of people with Crohn's, between the ages of 18 and 34, have been hospitalized within the last two years and more than half have required surgery within the past five years.

18 Aug 2004

Research will lead to better treatments for mastocytosis

Tens of millions of people know what it's like to suffer the seasonal torment of allergies, when just a whiff of pollen, mold or dust can set off a chain reaction in the body that causes sniffling, sneezing and coughing.

18 Aug 2004

80% of cancer patients use some form of complementary or alternative therapies

Plug the terms "alternative" and "cancer" into Google and the Internet search engine returns a list of 3.27 million - yes, million - sites with information both credible and questionable about nontraditional treatments for cancer. What's a cancer patient to make of such a vast array of options?

18 Aug 2004

Methods using preventive analgesia to treat pain after surgery before it develops

York University Professor Joel Katz is studying methods of preventing or significantly reducing pain after surgery by employing preemptive or preventive analgesia to treat pain before it develops.

17 Aug 2004

Friendly bacteria the key to ulcerative colitis treatment

Affecting an estimated fifty thousand people in the UK, with a particularly high incidence rate in north east Scotland, ulcerative colitis is an acute and chronic disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the large bowel.

17 Aug 2004

Not all good cholesterol helps to protect arteries from becoming clogged with fatty deposits

HDL becomes dysfunctional, Dr. Hazen said, when myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme present in white blood cells, inhibits the HDL's ability to keep LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, from building up in artery walls.

17 Aug 2004

A quarter of all adults aged over 40 could develop an irregular heartbeat

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder in the U.S., affecting more than 2 million adults. The prevalence of the condition is rising and scientists predict that about 5.6 million Americans will have the disorder by 2050. Known causes of AF include abnormalities in the heart’s structure and long-term uncontrolled high blood pressure.

17 Aug 2004

Osteoarthritis twice as likely if parents suffer the condition

New research published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, shows that children whose parents have osteoarthritis of the knee are twice as likely to develop the condition themselves. This research suggests that genetic make-up plays a role in osteoarthritis development.

12 Aug 2004