05 Mar 2018
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Skin Cells may help repair MS damage

Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, , ,
A personalized treatment for multiple sclerosis may be one step closer, thanks to a new study that reveals how a person's own skin cells could be used to repair the nerve damage that the disease causes. Led by scientists at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, the study took skin cells from adult mice with multiple sclerosis (MS) and then reprogramed them into neural stem cells (NSCs). These "induced neural stem cells" (iNSCs) were transplanted into the rodents' cerebrospinal fluid. There, they reduced inflammation and repaired damage to the central nervous system (CNS). Lead study author Dr. Stefano Pluchino, of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at…
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26 Feb 2018
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

The Pain Signal Effect and the Body’s Response

Chronic Pain Conditions, Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, , ,
Pain sends a signal that the body needs protection and healing. However, if the physiological changes triggered by it persists, harm will ensue, and acute pain may become chronic. So pain signal must be contained and/or relieved. The mechanisms through which pain interacts with the body provide health professionals with various routes of entry and intervention modes. This article discusses the intricacies of the adaptive response to pain and how they can be used to combat it. Citation: Swift A (2018) Understanding pain and the human body’s response to it. Nursing Times[online]; 114: 3, 22-26 Author: Amelia Swift is senior lecturer in nursing,…
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19 Feb 2018
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Radiculopathy

Chronic Pain Conditions, Nerve Pain, , ,
Radiculopathy is a medical term used to depict certain issues initiating in the spinal region, at the area of the nerve roots. It is a condition, which is a consequence of the pressure that is being begun from the herniated plate. However, there can be any other different cause to it. The pressure applied by the degenerative changes in the spine can likewise prompt pain in the back. These progressions prompt aggravation and bothering in the underlying foundations (roots) of the nerves. The nerves that are normally influenced by this issue are the sensory nerve. Thus, therefore, those muscles that…
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04 Dec 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Muscle Stem Cells could Address Circulation Problems

Chronic Pain Conditions, Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, , , ,
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Stem cells taken from muscle tissue could promote better blood flow in patients with diabetes who develop peripheral artery disease, a painful complication that can require surgery or lead to amputation. A new study in mice at the University of Illinois found that an injection of the stem cells prompted new blood vessels to grow, improving circulation in the affected tissues and function in the affected limbs. The stem cells also induced changes in gene expression in the surrounding tissues, prompting the release of factors to reduce inflammation and increase circulation. The study was published in the…
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06 Nov 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Nerve cell therapy restores motor function

Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, Therapies & Treatments, ,
Regenerative therapy using millions of nerve cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells, restored two or more motor levels on at least one side, in four out of six patients with paralyzing spinal cord injuries, according to researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. In a press release, the medical center reported the 67% recovery rate is “more than double” the rates previously reported in matched historical controls and in published data in a similar population — patients who had lost all motor function below the location of their spinal injury. “Having worked on this research for more…
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23 Oct 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Shingles Pain Cause Discovered

Chronic Pain Conditions, Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, ,
It is very likely that when you were a child, you had chickenpox, a mostly benign condition that despite making you extremely itchy, required you to miss a week or two of school. While most parents would think their children are safe from the infection after its resolved, what they don’t realize is that it may show up later in life in a painful form called shingles. A constant feature of shingles is neuralgia—intense pain affecting mainly the nerves of the chest and neck, the trigeminal nerve in the fact, and the lower back. New research out of the University of…
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16 Oct 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Neuromodulation and Regenerative Medicine Advances

Chronic Pain News, ,
Highlights from the American Society of Interventional Physicians annual meeting, including neuromodulation, humanistic care, vertebral augmentation, regenerative medicine, controlled substance prescribing, and more. There are numerous medical conferences that Practical Pain Management (PPM) tries to attend and cover. We are fortunate that when the PPM staff can’t attend a conference, we usually can call upon one of our expert editorial board members to act as our “roving reporter.” We were fortunate to have Elmer G. Pinzon, MD, MPH, physiatrist at the University Spine and Sports Specialists in Knoxville, Tennessee, attend this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), held…
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09 Oct 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Algae molecule might put the brakes on arthritis

Chronic Pain News, Exercises to Help Pain, , , ,
Arthritis is a degenerative disease that eats away at the joints and is rather difficult to treat, with a cure so far remaining out of reach. But research has now uncovered a new glimmer of hope, in the form of molecule taken from algae that, when modified, might just stop the degenerative effects in their tracks. According to Swiss research institute Empa, to varying extents, arthritis affects around 90 percent of people over the age of 65, making it the most widespread of joint diseases. The condition is characterized by the degradation of the cartilage in the joint, most typically…
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02 Oct 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Neuroscientists Focus on Cell Mechanism That Promotes Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain Conditions, Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, Therapies & Treatments, ,
Researchers have discovered a new pain-signaling pathway in nerve cells that eventually could make a good target for new drugs to fight chronic pain. The findings, published in the journal PLoS Biology by a UT Dallas neuroscientist and his colleagues, suggest that inhibiting a process called phosphorylation occurring outside of nerve cells might disrupt pain signals, and provide an alternative to opioid drugs for alleviating chronic pain. Dr. Ted Price, the study’s co-author and associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UT Dallas, said the finding is significant. “We found a key new signaling pathway that can be managed,” Price…
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25 Sep 2017
By webadmin@macmdaz.com

Preventing Shingles in RA Patients

Chronic Pain News, Nerve Pain, Therapies & Treatments, ,
The live varicella-zoster vaccine can effectively prevent shingles in rheumatoid arthritis patients starting treatment with the drug tofacitinib, according to results of 2 recently-published studies in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Shingles causes a painful rash that may appear as a stripe of blisters on the trunk of the body. Pain can persist even after the rash is gone (this is called postherpetic neuralgia). Treatments include pain relief and antiviral medications such as acyclovir or valacyclovir. A chickenpox vaccine in childhood or a shingles vaccine as an adult can minimize the risk of developing shingles. Patients who received the shingles vaccine several weeks prior…
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