Glucosamine in RA -pain but not inflammation?

Posted on September 7, 2006 by admin

Glucosamine 1500 mg/day seemed to help the pain of RA but not signs of inflammation – add on for Acetaminophen in NSAID intolerant along with fluvastatin (Lescol)? Continue reading →

Posted in arthritis, Drugs | Leave a comment

Sodium Channel effects in Fentanyl vs Morphine

Posted on September 6, 2006 by admin

Sodiums channels are important in central and peripheral neuropathic pains. Morphine has no effect but Fentanyl (in Duragesic), Tramadol (in Tramacet), and Sufentanil (10 more potent fentanyl) do. This highlights there is a rationale for switching to a different opioid. Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs, Pathophysiology | 1 Comment

Meditation Reduces Pain’s Thalamic Firing

Posted on September 6, 2006 by admin

Transcendental Meditation can reduce thalamic response to pain by 40-50% – highlighting how relaxation training needs to be an integral part of chronic pain treatment Continue reading →

Posted in Pathophysiology, psychology | Leave a comment

Vulvodynia be gone? Botox study

Posted on September 6, 2006 by admin

In this small study pain levels dropped from 8.3/10 to 1.4/10 without recurrence over the year of followup. One or two botox injection sessions were needed. Continue reading →

Posted in Interstial Cystitis/Gynecologic | 4 Comments

Varicella shots for shingles but tests ?useless

Posted on September 6, 2006 by admin

In 2005, a super-potent varicella-zoster vaccine established a 50% reduction in shingles over a 3 year period but left disturbing issues over whether the increased strength was necessary or a marketing ploy. Recent Zoster immunity testing locally cast doubt on test’s validity. Continue reading →

Posted in neuropathic | 1 Comment

Opioids “Get No Respect”

Posted on September 6, 2006 by admin

Opioids for chronic pain: Taking stock – editorial
Pain – in press Sept 2006

Discusses a study finding people on opioids were not better off. I feel they failed to comprehend that poor copers may be the ones that need opioids most and were not better off to start with. Continue reading →

Posted in Drugs | 1 Comment

Knee medial collateral lig calcification painful

Posted on September 5, 2006 by admin

On occasion, pain and calcification of the medial collateral ligament is reported in symptomatic knee patients. This can be a treatable condition. Continue reading →

Posted in Knee | 1 Comment

Celiac disease painful and hard to diagnose

Posted on September 5, 2006 by admin

The malabsortion of celiac disease can cause both osteomalacia and B12 deficiency among other things. These can be painful. Celiac is associated with spondylitis in some cases. A recent blood test result suggested lab testing can be insensitive.

Continue reading →

Posted in Abdominal pain | 1 Comment

DC Stim Helps Spinal Damage Pain and Cranial Stim for Fibromyalgia

Posted on September 5, 2006 by admin

Apparently 60-70% of spinal cord sufferers are in pain and 1/3 of these severely. This sort of pain can be very difficult to treat. Yet DC current – enough to be gotten from a nine volt battery could significantly help Continue reading →

Posted in Fibromyalgia, Mechanical aids | Leave a comment

Alzheimer’s- New Anti-inflam RX and Pain

Posted on August 29, 2006 by admin

TNF-alpha Modulation for Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease: A 6-Month Pilot Study.
MedGenMed. 2006 Apr 26;8(2):25.
Tobinick E, Gross H, Weinberger A, Cohen H Abstract

full
Comment – Looks like Etanercept (Embrel) works as well as Aricept in a 6 month pilot study in preventing AD progression. This suggests inflammatory disease is involved in AD disease. It has been suggested that some chronic pain involves the same mechanism. Continue reading →

Posted in Recent News | Leave a comment

Gabapentin makes Topical Diclofenac Better

Posted on August 28, 2006 by admin

Life Sci. 2006 Aug 2; [Epub ahead of print]

Examination of the interaction between peripheral diclofenac and gabapentin on the 5% formalin test in rats.
Picazo A, Castaneda-Hernandez G, Ortiz MI.

Putting 5 capsules of 300 mg gabapentin in a 60 ml bottle of Pennsaid may triple its analgesic power… Continue reading →

Posted in Topical Pain Treatments | 6 Comments