Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

FDA approves first oral drug for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Evrysdi (risdiplam) to treat patients two months of age and older with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare and often fatal genetic disease affecting muscle strength and movement.

7 Aug 2020

Study shows link between high blood lead levels and aberrant methylation of DNA

Scientists have unveiled a correlation between high blood lead levels in children and methylation of genes involved in haem synthesis and carcinogenesis, indicating a previously unknown mechanism for lead poisoning.

7 Aug 2020

Custom smartwatch tracks drug levels inside the body in real time

Engineers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and their colleagues at Stanford School of Medicine have demonstrated that drug levels inside the body can be tracked in real time using a custom smartwatch that analyzes the chemicals found in sweat.

7 Aug 2020

Providers participating in intervention resources are more likely to follow chronic opioid therapy guidelines

Results of a new study find that providers participating in an intervention with education and resources to help manage chronic opioid therapy for patients with HIV and chronic pain are more likely to adhere to national chronic opioid therapy guidelines compared to providers who do not take part.

7 Aug 2020

Study provides detailed insight into problems faced by patients recovering from COVID-19

Researchers have identified a pattern of longer-term symptoms likely to be experienced by people who were hospitalised with the COVID-19 infection.

7 Aug 2020

BMA reports on the challenges of menopause for working female doctors

Even in the healthcare world, sexism and ageism are hot issues that need to be addressed. Female doctors are going through menopause with no support from supervisors or colleagues due to sexist and ageist attitudes, a new study finds.

6 Aug 2020

Will smoking cannabis harm your heart?, yes says AMA

The American Heart Association (AHA), in their statement, has said that smoking cannabis (marijuana) could be harmful to the heart. This new stand on smoking weed was published this week in the journal Circulation. The announcement is released as an article titled, “Medical Marijuana, Recreational Cannabis, and Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.”

6 Aug 2020

OU Health Sciences Center awarded five-year grant for suicide prevention

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has been awarded a five-year, $38 million grant to lead and expand a national program dedicated to suicide prevention.

6 Aug 2020

Individual’s alpha wave frequency can be used as reliable pain indicator, shows study

Rhythms produced by the brain can reliably be used to predict how sensitive we are to pain, new research shows.

6 Aug 2020

New protocol reduces opioid use following surgery

The majority of patients who followed an "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery" (ERAS) protocol did not need opioids for pain management at multiple time points following elective spinal and peripheral nerve surgery.

6 Aug 2020

Study: UnityPhilly app can help fight America's opioid crisis

Equipped with naloxone and a smartphone app, community members can save lives in the fight against America's opioid crisis, according to a paper from researchers at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health and colleagues published this week in The Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine.

6 Aug 2020

Recovered COVID-19 patients report hair loss months after infection

Several members of Survivor Corps, the Facebook support group of people who have had COVID-19, recently tackled about experiencing hair loss months after recovering from the wrath of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Aug 2020

CDC warns acute flaccid myelitis is poised for a comeback in kids this fall

As if the novel coronavirus pandemic was not enough! Now the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns parents and pediatricians to be on the watch for a rare condition called Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM for short, which could affect young children and cause unexplained muscle paralysis similar to poliomyelitis. Their report is published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

5 Aug 2020

Bisphosphonates may be safe and beneficial for osteoarthritis patients

Bisphosphonates (a class of drugs that prevent the loss of bone density and used to treat osteoporosis and similar diseases) appear to be safe and beneficial for osteoarthritis patients.

5 Aug 2020

Surgery for acute cholecystitis during pregnancy may be safer than postponing

Painful gallstones are common during pregnancy. The pain can be intense, coming on suddenly, increasing and often radiating to the back.

5 Aug 2020

New research project receives federal funding to expand treatment options for sickle cell patients

A new research project that could impact and expand the discovery of new treatment options for sickle cell patients has received significant federal funding.

5 Aug 2020

NICE guideline advises GPs to stop prescribing opioids for chronic pain

Published today, the first ever NICE guideline on the treatment of chronic pain has said that GPs should not prescribe opioids and other medicines like paracetamol to patients because they could be ‘harmful’ and cause addiction.

5 Aug 2020

Gout diagnoses increased dramatically from 1990 to 2017, shows new analysis

The prevalence of gout--a form of arthritis characterized by severe pain, redness, and tenderness in joints--increased across the world at an alarming rate from 1990 to 2017, according to an analysis published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

5 Aug 2020

Scientists develop new models to study molecular characteristics of lung and pancreatic cancers

Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) report today the development of new models to study molecular characteristics of tumors of the lung and pancreas

5 Aug 2020

Study shows link between selenium-deficient diet and paracetamol toxicity

A lack of the mineral selenium in the diet puts people at risk of paracetamol overdose, even when the painkiller is taken at levels claimed to be safe on the packaging, according to collaborative research emerging from the University of Bath and Southwest University in China.

5 Aug 2020