Study: Strawberries Lower Inflammatory Marker And Reduces Pain!

Strawberries lowered inflammatory markers and reduced pain in a new study. Read more. 

Strawberries decrease circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor and lipid peroxides in obese adults with knee osteoarthritis.

Basu A¹, Kurien BT², Tran H³, Byrd B³, Maher J³, Schell J⁴, Masek E¹, Barrett JR⁵, Lyons TJ⁶, Betts NM⁴, Hal Scofield R².

50 Million People In The US Are Living With Chronic Pain!

"Chronic pain affects about 50 million US adults — and "high-impact" chronic pain, which interferes with life or work activities, affects around 20 million, new federal data indicate." Read more,,,

Chronic Pain Now Affects 50 Million US Adults .Megan Brooks. September 19, 2018. Medscape.  https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/902197?src=soc_fb_180923_mscpedt_news_mdscp_pain&faf=1

Art Therapy Can Help To Manage Pain!

"When we were kids, art time was often the best part of grammar school. Who didn’t enjoy coloring, drawing, painting, and cutting-and-pasting? It was fun, relaxing, and you got a wonderful euphoric feeling from creating something you made. We need to get back to that child activity. " Read more...

Art therapy: Another way to help manage pain. Posted July 12, 2018. Matthew Solan. Harvard Men's Health Watch. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/art-therapy-another-way-to-help-manage-pain-2018071214243?utm_content=buffer35cf6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer

Researchers Have Found Neurons That Influence Neuropathic Pain In The Brain!

"Neuropathic pain is a hard-to-treat chronic pain condition caused by nervous system damage. For people affected, the lightest touch can be intensely painful. 

A study published online Sept. 12 in Nature may open up a new angle on treatment and could help explain why mind-body techniques can sometimes help people manage their pain." Read more...

A ‘Volume Control’ for Pain. Study isolates neurons in the brain that influence touch sensitivity.
NANCY FLIESLER Harvard Medical School. September 12, 2018.  https://hms.harvard.edu/news/volume-control-pain

Pain Killers May Not Work Well When Sleep Deprived!

"New research uncovers unexpected links between sleep deprivation and pain sensitivity. The findings may have significant implications for pain management therapies. " Read more...

Painkillers might not work if you are sleep deprived, study suggests. Ana Sandiou. Medical News Today. May 8, 2017

"Mindfulness" Meditation Can Control Pain In Some People!

"Ever wonder why some people seem to feel less pain than others? A study conducted at Wake Forest School of Medicine may have found one of the answers—mindfulness. "Mindfulness is related to being aware of the present moment without too much emotional reaction or judgment," said the study's lead author, Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the medical school, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "We now know that some people are more mindful than others, and those people seemingly feel less pain." " Read more...

'Mindful people' feel less pain; MRI imaging pinpoints supporting brain activity.September 7, 2018, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Review: Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome are Associated with Abuse in Childhood or Adulthood!

"Häuser and colleagues found that sexual and physical abuse in both childhood and adulthood predicted greater odds of fibromyalgia (odds ratio point estimate range: 1.94–3.07). In their meta-analysis, Paras and colleagues found that rape survivors have especially high odds of fibromyalgia diagnosis (OR = 3.27). These risk factors are higher in fibromyalgia patients than those with rheumatoid arthritis, highlighting the specificity of the role of abuse and trauma in FM pathogenesis compared to a pain disorder with a known organic cause ."



Chronic Diffuse Pain and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders After Traumatic Stress: Pathophysiology Through a Polyvagal Perspective. Frontiers in medicine, Vol. 5 (2018) by Jacek Kolacz, Stephen W. Porges. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/14631678

Ultralaser Reduces Pain in Fibromyalgia!

"A new device that combines low-intensity laser light and therapeutic ultrasound considerably reduces the pain experienced by patients with fibromyalgia." Read more....

Ultralaser treatment reduces pain in patients with fibromyalgia. James Ives. News. August 30, 2018. 

Fibromyalgia Pain is Neuropathic and is a Neurogenic Disease!

“Today, it’s more widely accepted that fibromyalgia is primarily a neurogenic disease,” says Philippe Berenger, MD, a pain management specialist at Cleveland Clinic. “It still doesn’t explain the disease, but it’s a step forward.”

Why Fibromyalgia Is Neuropathic. Central sensitization is one explanation. Cleveland Clinic: Consult QD. March 8, 2016. https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/2016/03/why-fibromyalgia-is-neuropathic/?utm_campaign=qd+tweets&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=160308+fibromyalgia+neuropathic&dynid=twitter-_-qd+tweets-_-social-_-social-_-160308+fibromyalgia+neuropathic

Acetaminophen Not Effective As An Osteoarthritis Treatment!

 

Taken alone, acetaminophen is "not effective at any dose" for relieving pain or improving physical function for patients with osteoarthritis, concludes a large-scale meta-analysis recently published in The Lancet.

 Acetaminophen 'an ineffective treatment for osteoarthritis'. Honor Whiteman. Medical News Today. March 18,2016. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308061.php?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=56ebe20c04d30145cad6da94&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

Study: Meditation is an Effective Way to Reduce Pain!

The US is currently in what has been described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an opioid epidemic. Now, a new study investigates alternative forms of pain relief and concludes that mindfulness meditation is an effective way to reduce pain.

Meditation: could it replace opioids for pain relief? Marie Ellis. Medical News Today.  March 16, 2016. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307980.php?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=56e9e7cc04d301732f2c3956&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

Obesity in People with Fibromyalgia Makes Their Symptoms More Severe!

 

Carrying excess bodyweight increases pain levels and the extent of widespread pain in people with fibromyalgia; it also ratchets up the severity of other symptoms of the chronic pain syndrome. Studies have shown that overweight and obese people with fibromyalgia aren’t as physically strong or flexible, have more sleep problems, experience greater levels of anxiety and depression, and endure a lower quality of life than healthy-weight people with fibromyalgia. In addition, studies show that people that are obese live with a "steady state" of inflammation that contributes to increased pain and  sensitivity and other health conditions.

 The Fat–Fibromyalgia Connection. Emily Delzel. Arthritis Foundation. http://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/types/fibromyalgia/articles/obesity-fibromyalgia.php

Inflammation Plays Causal Role in Lyme Disease!

"About 15 percent of patients with Lyme disease develop peripheral and central nervous system involvement, often accompanied by debilitating and painful symptoms. New research indicates that inflammation plays a causal role in the array of neurologic changes associated with Lyme disease. The investigators also showed that the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone prevents many of these reactions."

Elsevier Health Sciences. (2015, April 16). Increasing evidence points to inflammation as source of nervous system manifestations of Lyme disease.ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 17, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150416084338.htm

"Fight or Flight" Response May Cause Pain in Fibromyalgia!

"We know that increased activation of the sympathetic nervous (fight or flight) system is present in fibromyalgia but is it contributing to the pain there? Martinez-Lavin has been hypothesizing that it’s been a key pain driver in FM for years."

Bad Relations: Study Finds Fight or Flight Response Tied to Pain in Fibromyalgia. Prohealth. Cort Johnson. April 5, 2015.