Pain Control News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

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 location of a specific calcium channel fine-tuning ...

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 hip fractures, especially in older patients who were ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:55pm EST

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 the ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Study of Former NFL Players Finds 1 in 3 Believe They Have CTE

Sep. 23, 2024 — A study of nearly 2,000 former NFL players shows one-third believe that they have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Those individuals were more likely to report cognitive symptoms, and 25% of ...

Ultra-Low-Dose Ketamine Can Curb Opioid Withdrawal

Sep. 17, 2024 — A pilot study showed that a small amount of ketamine can reduce or eliminate the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting ...

Cow Slime Can Help Disc Herniation Patients After Surgery, Research Shows

Sep. 17, 2024 — Researchers have developed a gel inspired by cow slime for patients suffering from disc herniation. By adding the mucin gel immediately after surgery, it is possible to create a protective barrier ...

Neoself-Antigens Induce Autoimmunity in Lupus

Sep. 13, 2024 — Researchers found that T cells recognize neoself-antigens -- abnormal, unfolded host proteins presented by major histocompatibility complex II (MHC-II) lacking the invariant chain -- as non-self ...

Sickle Cell Patients Who Receive Lactated Ringer's Solution for Painful Episodes Experienced Significant Improvements

Sep. 9, 2024 — Sickle cell disease is a common genetic disorder characterized by periodic occurrences of pain which happen repeatedly through life. These episodes, referred to as a vaso-occlusive episodes, happen ...

Anxiety and Depression Linked to Chronic Pain in Children

Sep. 9, 2024 — Young people with chronic pain are three times more likely than their peers to also have clinical anxiety or depression, a new review has ...

Brain Scans Reveal That Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Is Not a Placebo

Sep. 5, 2024 — Brain scans reveal that mindfulness meditation engages different neural pathways compared to placebo, demonstrating that pain relief from mindfulness meditation is not the result of the placebo ...

Researchers Discover That Sustained Neck Exertions Change the Spine and Muscles, Causing Pain

Sep. 4, 2024 — Using high-precision X-ray imaging to track spine movements during neck exertion tasks, researchers discovered that sustained neck exertions cause muscle fatigue that then exaggerate the cervical ...

Mechanisms of How Morphine Relieves Pain Mapped out

Aug. 29, 2024 — Researchers describe the neural processes behind how morphine relieves pain. This is valuable knowledge because the drug has such serious side ...

Drug May Stop Migraines Before Headache Starts

Aug. 28, 2024 — When taken at the first signs of a migraine, before headache pain begins, a drug called ubrogepant may be effective in helping people with migraine go about their daily lives with little or no ...

Ultrasound Devise Shows Promise for Treating Chronic Pain

Aug. 28, 2024 — Engineers have developed a device that noninvasively stimulates deep brain regions, potentially disrupting the faulty signals that lead to chronic pain. Preliminary trials show the therapy relieves ...