Pain Control News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

Neural Stem Cell Transplantation Shows Promise for Treating Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Dec. 17, 2024 — Using neural stem cells could help treat spinal injuries once thought to be untreatable -- a new phase 1 trial has determined this approach is ...

'I Don't Feel Your Pain': How Alcohol Increases Aggression

Dec. 2, 2024 — Alcohol's ability to increase people's pain threshold is one reason that drinking also leads to more aggressive behavior, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the less pain that study participants felt after drinking an alcoholic beverage, ...

A Healthy Diet Helps the Weighty Battle With Chronic Pain

Dec. 8, 2024 — New research shows that adopting a healthy diet can reduce the severity of chronic pain, presenting an easy and accessible way for sufferers to better manage their ...

New Research on Chronic Inflammation Explores Potential Treatments for Chronic Diseases and Cancer

Dec. 4, 2024 — A recently published study on a new approach to understanding chronic inflammation could lead to new advancements in the treatment of many debilitating medical conditions, including ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:55pm EST

Reducing Risk of Opioid Addiction While Alleviating Pain

Dec. 2, 2024 — Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs' ...

Cardiovascular Disease Symptoms Surprisingly High in Young Refugees

Dec. 5, 2024 — Many individuals seeking asylum in the United States show increased stress and pain symptoms that are associated with indications of cardiovascular ...

Scientists Discover New Receptor for Nerve Growth Factor--a Promising Target for Treating Pain

Dec. 5, 2024 — Researchers have found a new receptor for nerve growth factor that plays an important role in pain signaling, even though it does not signal on its ...

How Dementia Affects the Brain's Ability to Empathize

Dec. 3, 2024 — Patients with frontotemporal dementia often lack the ability to empathize. A study has now shown that these patients do not show the same brain activity as healthy individuals when they witness the ...

Brain Scan Predicts Effectiveness of Spinal Cord Surgery

Dec. 3, 2024 — A 10-minute brain scan can predict the effectiveness of a risky spinal surgery to alleviate intractable pain. The result gives doctors a much-needed biomarker to discuss with patients considering ...

Electrical Nerve Stimulation Eases Long COVID Pain and Fatigue, Study Finds

Nov. 25, 2024 — A wearable electrical nerve stimulation device can provide relief to people experiencing the persistent pain and fatigue linked to long COVID, according to new ...

A Groundbreaking New Approach to Treating Chronic Abdominal Pain

Nov. 22, 2024 — A research team has developed a new class of oral peptide therapeutic leads for treating chronic abdominal pain. This groundbreaking innovation offers a safe, non-opioid-based solution for conditions ...

A New Discovery About Pain Signaling May Contribute to Better Treatment of Chronic Pain

Nov. 18, 2024 — When pain signals are passed along the nervous system, proteins called calcium channels play a key role. Researchers have now pinpointed the exact ...

New Oral Drug to Calm Abdominal Pain

Nov. 18, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new class of oral painkillers to suppress chronic abdominal pain that is based on the peptide hormone oxytocin that drives childbirth ...

Neuropathic Pain Drugs Found to Increase Risk of Hip Fracture in Older Adults

Nov. 13, 2024 — A new study by medicine safety experts found the use of gabapentinoids -- medicines widely used to treat neuropathic pain -- increased the risk of ...

Very Early Medication Abortion Is Effective and Safe, Study Finds

Nov. 6, 2024 — Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study now indicates that treatment can be equally ...

Research Shows Therapeutic Virtual Yoga Program Can Be Effective for Chronic Low Back Pain

Nov. 1, 2024 — Researchers found that a 12-week therapeutic virtual yoga program for chronic low back pain can be a feasible, safe and effective treatment ...

First Pediatric Guideline on Opioid Prescribing in Primary Care Focuses on Preventing Overdose

Oct. 31, 2024 — With its emphasis on opioid overdose prevention, the first guideline for primary care providers from the American Academy of Pediatrics on prescribing opioids for acute pain in children and ...

Long COVID Inflammation Damages the Heart, Study Finds

Oct. 31, 2024 — New research has found inflammatory markers in the blood of long COVID patients which could explain why many experience ongoing cardiovascular ...

Communication With Doctor During First Visit Affects Pain Patients' Outcomes

Oct. 30, 2024 — A professor led a study that found that shared decision-making and the quality of the health care provider's history-taking and physical exam were the main drivers of spinal pain patients' ...

The Couples Who Cope Together, Stay Together

Oct. 29, 2024 — A new study has lifted the lid on how couples living with rheumatoid arthritis cope with the debilitating disease finding that those who cope with problems together had less psychological distress ...

Chronic Pain Can Be Predicted Within Three Days of an Injury

Oct. 24, 2024 — After only one to three days of a whiplash injury, scientists can predict which patients will develop chronic pain based on the extent of cross 'talk' between two regions of the brain, and ...

For Heavy Drinkers, Chronic Pain Associated With Alcohol Withdrawal Could Be Permanent

Oct. 17, 2024 — One of the main physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal is 'allodynia' -- increased sensitivity to mechanical stimuli that are normally innocuous, which is a clinical sign of chronic pain. ...

Men and Women Process Pain Differently, Study Finds

Oct. 16, 2024 — According to new research, men and women rely on different biological systems for pain relief, which could help explain why our most powerful pain medications are often less effective in ...

A Potential Non-Invasive Stool Test and Novel Therapy for Endometriosis

Oct. 11, 2024 — Promising findings could lead to the development of a non-invasive stool test and a new therapy for endometriosis, a painful condition that affects nearly 200 million women ...

Hip Osteoarthritis: Head Gets in the Way of Recovery, Study Suggests

Oct. 8, 2024 — Muscle activation in people suffering from hip osteoarthritis might be a case of 'mind over matter', new research has shown. A recent study investigated muscle function in people with hip ...

Researchers Seek to Improve Advanced Pain Management Using AI for Drug Discovery

Oct. 4, 2024 — An estimated one in five Americans live with chronic pain and current treatment options leave much to be desired. Scientists are now using artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery in advanced ...

Chronic Pain Patients Are More Supportive of Cannabis Access Than Doctors

Oct. 2, 2024 — A study reveals a gap between patient and physician attitudes on medical marijuana ...

Reducing Daily Sitting May Prevent Back Pain

Oct. 2, 2024 — A new study showed that reducing daily sitting prevented back pain from worsening over six months. The result strengthens the current understanding of the link between activity and back pain as well ...

Indigenous U.S. Farm Workers Face Greater Job-Related Pain Compared to Undocumented Peers

Sep. 30, 2024 — Farming is a notoriously hard profession with long hours spent operating dangerous equipment and performing other arduous tasks. New research finds that indigenous farm employees -- many of whom have ...

When a Child Hurts, Validating Their Pain May Be the Best First Aid

Sep. 25, 2024 — Researchers say that parents and doctors should be mindful of how they talk to and treat children experiencing pain -- no matter how big or small the injury -- knowing that these foundational ...

Placebo Pain Relief and Positive Treatment Expectations Are Not Caused by Dopamine, Researchers Find

Sep. 24, 2024 — New findings argue against a direct causal role for dopamine during the experience of a treatment effect in the establishment of positive treatment expectations and placebo analgesia in healthy ...

AI Chatbots Rival Doctors in Accuracy for Back Pain Advice, Study Finds

Sep. 24, 2024 — A new study reveals that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT, may be almost as effective as consulting a doctor for advice on low back ...

Research Quantifying 'Nociception' Could Help Improve Management of Surgical Pain

Sep. 23, 2024 — New statistical models based on rigorous physiological data from more than 100 surgeries provide objective, accurate measures of 'nociception,' the body's subconscious perception of ...

How the Brain Integrates Pain Prediction and Stimuli

Sep. 23, 2024 — A study has uncovered new insights into how the brain processes and integrates pain information. The research goes beyond identifying brain areas that respond to pain, revealing the mechanisms behind ...