Pain Control News

October 22, 2024

Top Headlines

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, which is a clinical sign of chronic pain. In a new ...

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 ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:56pm EDT

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

Sep. 16, 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Pain Identified as Dominant Symptom in Long COVID

Aug. 28, 2024 — Pain may be the most prevalent and severe symptom reported by individuals with long COVID, according to a new study. The study analyzed data from over 1,000 people in England and Wales who logged ...

Defining Chronic Pain for High-Performance Athletes With Disabilities

Aug. 27, 2024 — The extensive training and the sacrifices athletes make to compete at the Olympic games take center stage. For Paralympians and high-performance athletes with spinal cord injuries (SCI), assessing ...

Separating the Physical and Psychosocial Causes of Pain

Aug. 21, 2024 — Not all pain is the same. Depending on the cause, it requires different therapies. A team has now developed a method that enables physicians to better distinguish between physical and psychosocial ...

Cholecystectomy Not Always Necessary for Gallstones and Abdominal Pain

Aug. 21, 2024 — Abdominal pain associated with gallstones does not always subside after the gallbladder is removed (cholecystectomy). Even five years after surgery, one-third of patients still experience persisting ...

Tiny Killers: How Autoantibodies Attack the Heart in Lupus Patients

Aug. 20, 2024 — A team of researchers report that autoantibodies alone directly affect heart function in lupus ...

Researcher Says More Validation Needed for Increase in Gallbladder Surgeries

Aug. 20, 2024 — Although surgery is a common treatment for patients diagnosed with biliary dyskinesia, or functional gallbladder disorder, a medical researcher is questioning why the practice has become so ...

New Way to Control the Sense of Touch

Aug. 19, 2024 — Researchers have found a new way to manage the receptors that control the sense of touch, which could lead to treating chronic pain more effectively. Using phosphatidic acid as a regulator of the ...

Exploring Emerging Diagnostic Tools for Early Diagnosis of Endometriosis

Aug. 15, 2024 — Endometriosis affects more than 11% of women of reproductive age in the U.S. and 190 million women worldwide. The average time to diagnose endometriosis is seven years after the onset of symptoms, ...

Surprising Mechanism of Lupus Kidney Damage Identified

Aug. 14, 2024 — A team defined key cells behind severe kidney damage in lupus. The research can inform future antibody ...

Better Understanding Cerebral Palsy Pain Types Could Lead to Better Treatment

Aug. 7, 2024 — Pain management is a crucial part of the disease's care, but little is understood about how to manage it ...