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Multisite chronic pain is causally associated with a higher risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not with other autoimmune diseases (AIDs), according to a study. Yidan Tang and colleagues used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method to determine the causal relationship between chronic pain and AIDs, namely amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), celiac disease (CeD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), MS, RA, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 1 diabetes (T1D), and psoriasis using genome-wide association study summary statistics. The researchers identified associations between multisite chronic pain and a higher risk for MS and RA (odds ratios, 1.59 and...

Often debilitating, chronic pain is one of the most common reasons individuals seek medical help. Between 67 to 88 percent of them also suffer from sleep disturbances, including longer and more frequent nocturnal awakenings and poorer sleep quality. Because chronic pain and sleep are thought to be correlated, treatment of one could be beneficial to the other. One such treatment is spinal cord stimulation, which shows mounting evidence it improves aspects of sleep and has demonstrated efficacy in treating a multitude of chronic pain conditions. This treatment involves an implantable spinal cord stimulator that sends low levels of electricity directly...

You’ve heard of people “drinking away their pain,” but a new study has scientifically proven that alcohol is actually an effective painkiller.University of Greenwich’s Trevor Thompson led the review study that looked at 18 different experiments which tested the reactions of more than 400 healthy people. Their reactions were measured when exposed to controlled pain (such as heat, cold and pressure) both without alcohol and under the influence of alcohol.Thompson concluded that there is “robust evidence that alcohol is an effective painkiller.”“Although the finding that alcohol results in reduced pain might seem obvious to many people, results from individual studies...

NATURE TO THE RESCUE - AGAINThe deadly sea snail venom that will take away your pain By Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor Times Online A NEW painkiller based on the venom of a sea snail will be available in Britain from today. Prialt, or ziconotide, is the result of more than 20 years’ research by a scientist born in the Philippines, Baldomera Olivera, who is a professor at the University of Utah. It is 1,000 times more potent than morphine but, unlike that drug, is not addictive. It is aimed at people suffering from severe, chronic pain who would normally...

Chronic Pain Linked To Vitamin D Deficiency In Men Tuesday 29 April 2014 - 8am PSTMedical News Today Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a number of health issues. And now, a new study to be presented at a conference run by the British Society for Rheumatology suggests that low levels of vitamin D in the body are linked to chronic widespread pain. The researchers note that in the UK, chronic widespread pain is a major public health problem, affecting around 1 in 5 people, and it can be caused by rheumatic and neurological disorders. Also, around 50% of...

An ancient folk remedy for chronic pain could be buzzing into mainstream markets. Axis Clinical Trials in Los Angeles is testing honey bee venom for treatment of osteoarthritis. Dr. Lydie Hazan spoke to CBS2′s Lisa Sigell about her experience treating patients with Apimed, otherwise known as standardized and purified “venom in a vial”. “We were contracted by a pharmaceutical company which is based in Korea. They decided they wanted this product marketed in the United States,” she said. “We inject it locally in the knees of patients that are afflicted with osteoarthritis.” Patients are monitored for months to see if...

Can an all-natural dietary supplement from tobacco plants help ease your chronic pain? Yes, according to the makers of a product called "Anatabloc." * * * Anatabloc, which comes in pill or lozenge form, is based on a substance called "Anatabine" that comes from tobacco plants. That's right tobacco. After you take a pill, it enters your body and interacts with a protein in your cells. The resulting cell adopts a natural anti-inflammatory process in the body. Researchers say it's very effective and promising in the battle against chronic pain.

Your body is in a constant battle to maintain its delicate acid alkaline balance. Over acidity can cause a host of diseases and other problems to manifest in the body. This makes a healthy alkaline food diet all the more important for the sick, to adhere to a 20/80 rule acid/alkaline diet. Those suffering from fibromyalgia need to pay close attention to their acid/alkaline balance. St. Martins Press – Your favorite snack or dessert could trigger symptoms of fibromyalgia. Tender pain, fatigue, trouble with memory and digestive problems are just a few of the problems experienced by women with fibromyalgia....

Nutra Pharma Announces Launch Of Cobroxin, An Over-the-Counter (OTC) Treatment For Stage 2 (Moderate To Severe) Chronic Pain Nutra Pharma Corp. (OTCBB: NPHC), a biotechnology company that is developing treatments for Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), HIV and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), has announced that it has launched an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever, Cobroxin, for the treatment of Stage 2 (moderate to severe) chronic pain. Cobroxin is the first OTC pain reliever clinically proven to treat Stage 2 (moderate to severe) chronic pain. The drug, which was developed by Nutra Pharma's wholly-owned drug discovery subsidiary, ReceptoPharm, will be available as an oral spray for...

Enlarge Image A needle a day. Inserting needles into certain acupuncture points, shown here as labeled dots, seems to spur tissue to release a pain-killing chemical. Credit: Takahiro Takano Millions of people worldwide use acupuncture to ease a variety of painful conditions, but it's still not clear how the ancient treatment works. Now a new study of mice shows that insertion of an acupuncture needle activates nearby pain-suppressing receptors. What's more, a compound that boosts the response of those receptors increases pain relief—a finding that could one day lead to drugs that enhance the effectiveness of acupuncture in people....

... "I felt overall pain to the point that even when my children or husband just touched me it hurt."... ..."I am really, really good," Campbell said. "Having said that, I'm still not 100 percent. I'm still not that person I was before." Campbell was one of 10 women with fibromyalgia to take part in a small pilot study at Stanford over a 14-week period to test the new use of a low dose of a drug called naltrexone for the treatment of chronic pain. ..."Even after the study, it just got better and better and better," Campbell said. "I...

Low levels of the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D, may contribute to chronic pain among women, scientists believe. The link does not apply to men, suggesting hormones may be involved, according to a study published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases said. The team from the Institute of Child Health in London said studies were now needed to see if vitamin D supplements can guard against chronic pain. About one in 10 people are affected by chronic pain at any one time in the UK. The causes are not well understood and much of the focus to date has been on...

A repudiation of prosecutions that treat doctors’ errors in judgment as felonies Three years ago, federal prosecutors likened McLean, Virginia, pain doctor William Hurwitz to "a street-corner crack dealer." But it turned out there were a few differences. Unlike a street-corner crack dealer, Hurwitz did not sell drugs. Instead, he prescribed narcotics to patients, the vast majority of them undisputedly legitimate, in an attempt to relieve severe chronic pain. The small minority of patients who used the pills to get high or sold them on the black market also claimed to be suffering unrelieved pain, and Hurwitz said he believed...

In an article in Science magazine, SUNY Downstate researchers describe erasing memory from the brain by targeting a molecular mechanism that controls memory. Finding may be applied to chronic pain, memory loss, and other conditions.Scientists at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have discovered a molecular mechanism that maintains memories in the brain. In an article in Science magazine, they demonstrate that by inhibiting the molecule they can erase long-term memories, much as you might erase a computer disc.Furthermore, erasing the memory from the brain does not prevent the ability to re-learn the memory, much as a cleaned computer disc may be...

Sometimes, the life of a Fibromite becomes very complicated. Whether it's the drugs, the symptoms, the mental incapacity, or maybe just trying to live your life as normally as possible - things get in the way. Things that I love so dearly - like writing and gardening, had all but come to a halt in my world over the past few weeks. The heat? Kids out of school? Who knows - but I was absolutely off-kilter. I was beginning to believe the people around me who kept saying - 'you have to get off those drugs. What are you doing...

Worried that millions of Americans are using prescription opiate painkillers to get high rather than to ease severe chronic pain, drug makers are working on ways to prevent abuse. Cooperating closely with government officials and pain specialists, the companies are educating doctors, rewriting warning labels and tracking pills as they move from pharmacy to patient. They are also reformulating pills with added ingredients. One combination blocks euphoria. Another produces a nasty burning sensation. "The problem of prescription painkiller abuse is much bigger than people realize," said Dr. Clifford Woolf, director of the neural plasticity group and professor of anesthesia research...

A marijuana-based medication for people suffering from multiple sclerosis and severe pain is expected to be approved for sale in Britain early this year, British officials say. The drug, Sativex, developed by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company, is a liquid extract from marijuana grown by the company under license from the government. Developed to be sprayed under the tongue, it would be the first drug in recent decades to include all the components of the cannabis plant, advocates of medical marijuana say. The British agency that regulates pharmaceuticals does not like to discuss potential drugs before they are approved. The...

Pain is America's Number-One Public Health Problem; It's Time to DO Something Say Lawmakers, Care Providers and Patients 9/17/03 8:00:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Assignment Desk, Daybooks Contact: Chuck Weber of the American Pain Society, 847-705-1802 News Advisory: -- Rep. Mike Rogers Sponsoring National Pain Care Policy Act of 2003 -- American Pain Society Launching National Public Awareness Campaign -- Pain Organizations Activate Decade of Pain Control and Research Chronic pain affects at least one in five Americans, making it the nation's most urgent and ignored health issue. Today, many suffer in silence from untreated or undertreated pain because they...