Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

Popular painkiller may have more significant effects on the liver than expected

The popular painkiller ibuprofen may have more significant effects on the liver than previously thought, according to new research from the University of California, Davis.

11 Mar 2020

VCU Health halts 30-year campaign that seized patients’ wages, put liens on homes

In one of the most sweeping moves yet by a nonprofit hospital system to reduce aggressive bill collection, VCU Health is halting seizure of patients' wages and removing thousands of liens against patients' homes, some dating to the 1990s.

11 Mar 2020

Cream infused with microscopic STAR particles could facilitate better treatment of skin diseases

Skin diseases affect half of the world's population, but many treatments are not effective, require frequent injections, or cause significant side effects.

10 Mar 2020

Patients using copper IUDs have lower cervical cancer risk compared to LNG-IUS users

Patients who used copper intrauterine devices (Cu IUD) were found to have a lower risk of high-grade cervical neoplasms (cervical cancer) compared to users of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), according to a Columbia study recently published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

10 Mar 2020

Music appears to decrease delirium in critically ill patients

It is common for critically ill patients on life support to develop delirium, a form of acute brain failure for which no effective treatment is known.

10 Mar 2020

Researchers succeed in creating a common language to describe pain

For the first time, an international collaboration of researchers have succeeded in creating a complete overview of all pain conditions in the face, mouth and jaw and classifying them in the same way.

10 Mar 2020

Dental shock: Six pulled teeth and one unexpected bill

The ache in three of Kathy McCracken's teeth started almost four years ago. It was hard for her to chew and swallow. She was sensitive to both hot and cold food.

10 Mar 2020

As youth suicides climb, anguished parents begin to speak out

Alec Murray was 13. He enjoyed camping, fishing and skiing. At home, it was video games, movies and books. Having just completed middle school with "almost straight A's," those grades were going to earn him an iPhone for his upcoming birthday.

10 Mar 2020

Knowing opioid use following cesarean delivery can inform individualized prescriptions

Knowing the amount of opioids taken following cesarean section surgery and before discharge can inform individualized prescriptions and cut down on unnecessary, leftover pills that could be used for non-medical purposes, according to a new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

9 Mar 2020

Major grant expands regenerative rehabilitation research at Kessler Foundation

A major award by the Derfner Foundation expands the capacity of Kessler Foundation to conduct regenerative rehabilitation research aimed at developing new ways to restore function to people with disabilities caused by musculoskeletal and neurological injuries.

9 Mar 2020

Obesity linked to pancreatitis, study finds

A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona published in the the Journal of Clinical Investigation has found that obesity is not only implicated in chronic diseases such as diabetes, but also in sudden-onset diseases such as pancreatitis.

9 Mar 2020

TB bacteria produce fatty acid that triggers a pain-response cough to spread the disease

Tuberculosis is distinguished primarily by the persistent cough that serves to spread the disease. Stopping whatever triggers that cough could greatly reduce the transmission of the disease, which annually kills more than 1.3 million people worldwide.

7 Mar 2020

New route for total synthesis of tetrodotoxin

In Japan, puffer fish is considered a delicacy, but the tickle to the taste buds comes with a tickle to the nerves: fugu contains tetrodotoxin, a strong nerve toxin.

6 Mar 2020

New data model helps identify areas where Lyme disease cases may go unreported

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention receives reports of about 30,000 cases of Lyme disease each year. The real number, according to the agency, is closer to 300,000.

5 Mar 2020

Tuberculosis bacteria facilitate their spread by producing a molecule that triggers cough

The bacteria that cause the deadly lung disease tuberculosis appear to facilitate their own spread by producing a molecule that triggers cough, a new study led by UTSW researchers shows.

5 Mar 2020

Newly developed mobile app helps reduce pain in osteoarthritis patients

By performing a few simple physical exercises daily, and receiving information about their disease regularly, 500 osteoarthritis patients were able to on average halve their pain in 6 months - and improve their physical function.

5 Mar 2020

Back pain can be linked to humans' evolutionary past and vertebral shape

The cause of back pain can be linked to humanity's evolutionary past, according to new research from a team of bioarchaeologists at Simon Fraser University, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Sydney.

5 Mar 2020

Researchers identify mechanism that explains why women experience more pain than men

Imagine taking a pill to control your pain and, instead, the medication actually increases the pain you feel.

5 Mar 2020

Smartphone users have more headaches, find less relief from the medication

A new study published in the March 2020 issue of the journal Neurology Clinical Practice reports that smartphone use by people who have headaches is associated with greater use of medication but less relief, compared to those who do not use smartphones when they have headaches. This does not prove that smartphone use is responsible for the increased need for drugs or the relative intractability of the headaches, but shows a linkage.

4 Mar 2020

A new report on health spending by Americans

There have been several studies showing that spending on health by Americans is on the rise, and around 18 percent of the US economy is individual spending on health. A study titled, “US Health Care Spending by Payer and Health Condition, 1996-2016,” was published in the latest issue of JAMA today.

3 Mar 2020