To Treat Pain, You Need to Treat the Patient: People in chronic pain are
some of the most difficult patients to treat. They have complex circumstances
that medicine can't always remedy. Pain can be amplified, by depression and
anxiety, genetics and quality of life. Genetics can also play a role in how
people experience pain. Clinicians and researchers at UW Medicine's Center for
Pain Relief found that an in-depth questionnaire can help immensely. Their work
to create a pain assessment adaptable to any primary care clinic was recently
published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
New approach for treating neuropathic pain: Neuropathic pain is the chronic,
pathological pain that continues even when the cause of pain is removed. Causes
include damage to nerve cells and medicines used to treat cancer. Scientists
have discovered a novel therapeutic that appears to interrupt the signaling
cascades in the body required for multiple forms of neuropathic pain. Pain
Love hurts: Spats with spouse may worsen chronic pain, other symptoms:
For patients with chronic conditions like arthritis or diabetes, arguments with
a spouse may have physical repercussions, according to researchers. They found
that in two groups of older individuals -- one group with arthritis and one
with diabetes -- the patients who felt more tension with their spouse also
reported worse symptoms on those days. Annals of Behavioral Medicine
COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Cannabidiol significantly reduces seizures inpatients with severe form of epilepsy: Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound derived from the cannabis plant that
does not produce a 'high,' was shown in a new large-scale, randomized,
controlled trial to significantly reduce the number of dangerous seizures in
patients with a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. This
study also is the first to offer information on cannabidiol dosing for patients
with treatment-resistant epilepsy. NEJM
Marijuana Use Not Linked to Risk of Arrhythmias After Acute MI: For patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), marijuana use is not
associated with increased risk of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular
fibrillation (VT/VF) or cardiac arrest, according to a study presented at the
annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society.
FDA ACTION
• Launched legal action to stop
two stem cell clinics from providing unapproved treatments that have caused
serious, long-term harm to some patients.
• Approved non
opioid treatment, Lucemyra, for opioid withdrawl
• Approves novel
preventive treatment for migraines, Aimovig, one a month injections
• Approves the
first epoetin alfa bioseimilar, Retacrit, for the treatment of anemia
• Permitted
marketing of Hemospray, a new device used to help control certain types of
bleeding in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
• Approved Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib),
administered together, for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC)
that cannot be removed by surgery or has spread to other parts of the body
PREVENTION
Exercise beats genetics in determining amount of body fat: With obesity
now a global epidemic, there is increased focus on risk factors that contribute
to weight gain, especially in postmenopausal women. Although many women may
blame genetics for their expanding waistlines, a new study shows that as women
age they are more likely to overcome genetic predisposition to obesity through
exercise. Menopause
High Occupational Exercise Level Tied to Early Mortality in Men:
High-level occupational physical activity linked to 18 percent increased risk
of early death in men only. Among women, there was a trend toward an inverse
association between occupational physical activity and early mortality. British
Journal of Sports Medicine
Resistance
Exercise May Reduce Depressive Symptoms in Adults:
Resistance exercise training (RET) is associated with reduced depressive
symptoms among adults, according to a meta-analysis published online May 9 in JAMA
Psychiatry.
USPSTF:
Decision to Undergo PSA Screening Should Be Individual: The
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the decision to
undergo periodic prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer
should be an individual one for men aged 55 to 69 years. These findings form the
basis of a final recommendation statement, published in the May 8 issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association.
Some water-filter pitchers much better attoxin removal:
Scientists compared three popular
pitcher brands' ability to clear dangerous microcystins from tap water. They
found that while one did an excellent job, other pitchers allowed the toxins --
which appear during harmful algal blooms (HABs) -- to escape the filter and
drop into the drinking water. The purifier that filtered water fastest,
and which was made entirely of coconut-based activated carbon, removed 50
percent or less of the microcystins from the water. But the purifier that
filtered water slowest -- and which was made from a blend of active carbon --
rendered the microcystins undetectable in drinking water. The study appears in
the journal Water Science Technology: Water Supply. "In general,
the cheaper the pitcher, the worse job it did filtering out the toxins.”
NUTRITION/SUPPLEMENTS/VITAMINS
Symptoms of Osteoarthritis Lessened With
Simple Changes to the Diet:One gram of fish oil a day could help reduce the pain of patients with
osteoarthritis (OA), according to a study published in Rheumatology. In
analysing 68 previous studies in the field, researchers found that a low-dose
supplement of fish oil could result in pain reduction for patients with OA and
help improve their cardiovascular health. Essential fatty acids in fish oil
reduce inflammation in joints, helping to alleviate pain. The researchers also
found that a reduction of weight for overweight and obese patients and the
introduction of exercise tailored to mobility could also help ease the symptoms
of OA.
Better Diet Quality Associated With Larger
Brain Volume: Better
diet quality, including high intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, dairy,
nuts, and fish, and low intake of sugar containing beverages is associated with
larger brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter and hippocampal volume
according to a study published online May 16 in Neurology.
TREATMENT
“Drug Holidays” May Lead to Bone Fractures for Patients With Osteoporosis:
Patients with osteoporosis who take bisphosphonates for long periods typically
are advised to temporarily discontinue the drugs to prevent rare but serious
side effects. However, a recent study has found that 15.4% of patients who take
“drug holidays” experience fractures. During a 6-year follow-up period, the
yearly incidence of fractures ranged from 3.7% to 9.9%, with the most fractures
occurring during the fourth and fifth years. Endocrine Practice
Alternative treatment for mild asthma: People with mild asthma are often prescribed
a daily treatment regimen, but up to 80 per cent do not follow the routine,
using inhalers only when they have an asthma attack. Now the researchers have found
an as-needed combined-drug inhaler is a viable treatment option- an
inhaler with a combination of budesonide, a steroid that controls inflammation,
and formoterol, a beta2-agonist. NEJM
Stroke prevention drug combo shows promise: If you've had a minor stroke or a transient
ischemic stroke (TIA), taking the clot-preventing drug clopidogrel along with
aspirin may lower your risk of having a major stroke within the next 90 days,
according to new research. NEJM
Commonly prescribed heartburn drug linked to
pneumonia in older adults:Researchers have found a statistical link between pneumonia in older people and
a group of medicines commonly used to neutralize stomach acid in people with
heartburn or stomach ulcers. Although Proton-pump inhibitors
(PPIs) are still a valuable group of medicines, research is indicating that
PPIs are not as completely safe for older people as previously thought. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society
Chronic
Aspirin Exposure Linked to Melanoma Risk in Males:Chronic acetylsalicylic acid (ASA; aspirin) exposure is associated with
increased risk of malignant melanoma (MM) in men, but not women, according to a
letter to the editor published online March 27 in the Journal of the
American Academy of Dermatology.
OTHER
Asthma and hay fever linked to increased risk of psychiatric disorders: A
new study is the first to find a significant link between asthma, hay fever and
a broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders. Over 15 years, 10.8 percent of
patients with allergic diseases developed a psychiatric disorder, compared to
only 6.7 percent of those without allergies. Monitoring the mental health of
patients with allergies could help doctors care for their patients more
effectively. Frontiers in Psychiatry
Intimacy in later life does not slow memory loss: Research shows that
sexual activity and emotional closeness are unrelated to the rate of cognitive
decline Older people who enjoy a sexually active and emotionally close
relationship with their partner tend to perform better at memory tests than
sexually inactive older adults on a short-term basis, but this is not the case
over a longer period of time. This is according to a study using data from more
than 6000 adults aged 50 and over. Archives of Sexual Behavior
