Emotional Expression Benefits Chronic Pain

A therapeutic intervention involving confronting and expressing emotional and traumatic experiences shows greater improvement in fibromyalgia pain. When compared with conventional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), randomized trial results show. It was also linked to significant pain reductions when offered as a one-time intervention in the primary care setting, researchers report. "Current evidence-based psychological interventions for fibromyalgia, such as CBT, are relatively weak. We believe, because they do not help patients disclose, target, and resolve their conflicted emotional experiences," senior author Mark Lumley, PhD, professor of psychology at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, told Medscape Medical News. "We have demonstrated, however, that…
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Neuroinflammation: How it causes Chronic Pain

What is neuroinflammation and why does it cause severe burning pain even when there seems to be no injury? Let me explain it as simply as I can. Say you sprain your ankle. Your ankle then hurts, swells, discolors, and the pain limits use. The swelling occurs because of “healing” chemicals that move into the affected area and work to repair any damage. In a typical person, this process is successful and the healing chemicals trigger another set of chemicals to take the healing chemicals away. The swelling and discoloration go away and the person doesn’t have any additional issues…
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Manufactured Stem Cells Might Boost New Diabetes Therapies

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be generated from adult cells. iPSCs have the potential to develop into any cell type in the human body. These cells hold an enormous therapeutic potential in a variety of conditions. Including but not limited to cardiac diseases, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and diabetes. A team of researchers from Lonza, developed clinical-grade iPSCs from human umbilical cord blood cells collected following a healthy birth. These cells, described in the study “cGMP-Manufactured Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Are Available for Pre-Clinical and Clinical Applications,” published in Stem Cell Reports. iPSCs are now available for…
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Buprenorphine Patches in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Transdermal buprenorphine may be an effective therapy for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP). However the treatment was associated with a high rate of adverse events, mostly nausea and/or vomiting. The findings come from a newly published multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial. Ninety-three patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes were enrolled and received either buprenorphine (5μg/h) or placebo patches. All the patients had been experiencing moderate to severe DPNP for a minimum of 6 months on maximal tolerated conventional therapy. The dose was titrated to effect to a maximum of 40μg/h for the study. Results showed that of those…
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Sacral Neuromodulation for Sacrectomy Patients

Sacral chordoma is a rare malignant tumor arising from remnants of the notochord. Due to its propensity for recurrence, the treatment of choice is surgical resection. Orthopedic and neurosurgical literature describe bladder dysfunction as prevalent in these patients, specifically urinary incontinence, however urologic literature is lacking in the exact nature of this dysfunction. Thus far, Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS) has not been described as a treatment option for these patients. We describe a 36-year-old female who underwent midsacral resection (S3 and below) for a sacrococcygeal chordoma. She suffered from postoperative urinary incontinence and incomplete emptying requiring intermittent catheterization. Urodynamic evaluation…
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Tarantula toxin untangles pain pathways

A toxin isolated from the Togo starburst tarantula provides new insights into pain mechanisms and could lead to new treatments for irritable bowel syndrome. With their large, hairy bodies and long legs, tarantulas are an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare. For pain researchers, however, these outsized spiders are a dream come true: Their venom contains a cocktail of toxins, each of which activates pain-sensing nerve fibers in different ways, and researchers in the United States have now identified one such toxin that will help them to better understand pain, and could also lead to treatments for the chronic pain associated with irritable…
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Blocking Intracellular Glutamate May Halt Neuropathic Pain

Experiments to block receptors deep within spinal neurons, metabotropic glutamate 5 receptors (mGluR5), may open the door to more effective treatments for neuropathic pain. Understanding how the body processes pain is essential to understanding how to better treat it. Aiding in that understanding has been intense research on one of the key players that transmit nociceptive information through the body. G-protein-couple receptors (GPCRs) play a critical role in various bodily functions, including as a mediator of neuroplasticity underlying chronic pain.  One specific receptor, metabotropic glutamate 5 receptor (mGluR5), is heavily abundant in the dorsal horn (DH),1,2 prime real estate for…
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Stem Cells for Personalized Pain Therapy Testing

Using patient-derived stem cells, researchers create laboratory neuron models that reflect a patient’s response to a pain drug. Pain can be tough to take, and it’s also difficult to study: rodent models for pain do not necessarily translate to human pain conditions and expression of disease-causing mutations in cell lines may not precisely mimic the physiology of human pain disorders. Now, researchers have developed a new way to test pain—and, potentially, other sensory-targeting medications. Edward Stevens and James Bilsland of the Pfizer’s U.K.-based neuroscience and pain research units and their colleagues have shown that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived…
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Full-length Protein Involved in Chronic Pain

Researchers Map Full-length Protein Involved in Chronic Pain, with Hopes for Future Therapies Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have discovered the full-length structure of a protein named Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid subtype 2 (TRPV2), with implications for the development of new treatments for chronic pain and cancer. The paper, “Structure of the full-length TRPV2 channel by cryo-EM,” was published in Nature Communications. Researchers led by Dr. Vera Moiseenkova-Bell had previously established the link between TRPV2’s molecular mechanism in a study published in December 2015 in Molecular and Cellular Biology, titled “Nerve Growth Factor Regulates Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 2 via Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling…
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Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy

The incidence of type 2 diabetes has increased strikingly in the last several decades. Accompanying this development has been an increase in the incidence of diabetic neuropathy, leading to progressive pain, loss of sensation (primarily in the feet), weakness, and disability. Conventional therapy has consisted largely of attempts to control the diabetes and to moderate the pain. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy (PEMF) is a safe, and non-invasive way to reduce pain and inflammation. It can be used to supplement and enhance currently existing healthcare modalities. The PEMF apparatus includes various devices including full body mats, localized pad applicators, and pinpointed probe or…
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