Author Interviews, JAMA, Orthopedics, Pain Research / 01.10.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ben Metcalf BsC (co-author) on behalf or A/Prof Rana Hinman PhD Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Metcalf: This study investigated whether acupuncture is an effective treatment for people aged more than 50 years with chronic knee pain. Participants in our study were randomly assigned to one of four groups; needle acupuncture, laser acupuncture, sham laser acupuncture or no treatment. The people in the treatment groups received acupuncture treatment from a family physician for 12 weeks. Participants were assessed after treatment and again after one year. There were no significant differences in knee pain or physical function between active and sham laser acupuncture at 12 weeks or at one year. Both needle and laser acupuncture resulted in modest improvements in pain compared with no treatment at 12 weeks that were not maintained at one year. Needle acupuncture improved physical function at 12 weeks compared with no treatment but was not different from sham acupuncture and was not maintained at one year. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Pain Research / 16.09.2014

Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD Professor, Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program Center for Spirituality & Healing University of MinnesotaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD Professor, Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program Center for Spirituality & Healing University of Minnesota Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Were any of the findings unexpected? Dr. Bronfort: Our study found that spinal manipulative therapy  SMT coupled with home exercise and advice (HEA) appears to be helpful compared to home exercise and advice alone (especially in the short term) for patients with sub-acute and chronic back-related leg pain (BRLP). BRLP was defined as radiating pain originating from the lumbar spine, which travels into the proximal or distal lower extremity, with or without neurological signs. Patients with progressive neurological deficits, cauda equina syndrome, spinal fracture, and other potentially serious causes of BRLP (and often candidates for surgery) were EXCLUDED. There were a few things we did find to be quite interesting. First, it is notable that the spinal manipulative therapy & home exercise and advice group experienced less self-reported medication use after one year than the  home exercise and advice alone group (SMT&HEA was 2.6 times more likely to experience fewer medication days than HEA alone at 1 year). Given the growing concerns of overuse of pain medications (and the potential for adverse events and addiction), this is a finding that has important public health consequence. Another interesting and important finding is that the adverse events observed in this study were only mild to moderate and self-limiting. No serious adverse events occurred that were related to the study interventions. Mild to moderate adverse events (e.g. temporary aggravation of pain, muscle soreness, etc.) were reported by 30% of the patients in the SMT&HEA group, and 42% in the HEA group. This is important as few studies have systematically recorded the side effects and adverse events related to SMT&HEA and HEA alone; this is one of the first, larger clinical trials to do so. These findings are especially notable because SMT is often not recommended for patients with leg symptoms because of safety concerns (which might be related to the previous absence of robust scientific data to support its use). Finally, while an advantage of SMT& HEA versus HEA was found (especially in the short term), we do find the findings of the HEA alone group to also be of interest. Almost half of the HEA patients experienced a 50% reduction in leg pain symptoms in both the short (at 12 weeks) and long term (at 52 weeks). That’s an important improvement and warrants future investigation. Self-management strategies (like home exercise) that emphasize the importance of movement and fitness, restoration of normal activities, and allow patients to care for themselves embrace important principles for promoting overall health and wellbeing that could have a big impact if routinely put into practice. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pain Research, Sexual Health / 15.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Natalie Sidorkewicz, MSc (Kin) PhD (HSG) Student Spine Biomechanics Laboratory School of Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: First, we successfully documented male spine motion and muscle activity during sex -- this biomechanics study was the first of its kind. Second, we used this data to develop general recommendations for low back pain patients whose pain is worsened by motions and postures. The general recommendations focus on changing how people move, and position themselves during sex, as seen on websites similar to Nu-Bay. To make any sex position more spine-sparing, we recommend that the individual controlling the movement use their hips and knees more than their spine and that the individual not controlling the movement maintain a more neutral-spine position. An excellent working example is one of the sex positions that we studied: the missionary position. The man, who is controlling the movement with pelvic thrusting, is recommended to do so with more hip and knee movement than spine movement. The women, who is lying on her back, is recommended to use a back support placed underneath the natural curve of her spine to maintain a more neutral spine position. The general recommendations can be applied to any sex position for both men and women. Finally, we developed specific guidelines for men whose back pain is worsened by two specific types of motion: flexion and extension. If a man's low back pain is worsened by spine flexion movements, such as touching their toes or sitting for long periods of time, we would consider them to be flexion-motion-intolerant. The ideal sex position for a flexion-motion-intolerant patient would then be one that uses minimal spine flexion, so as not to worsen that patient's pain. When we compared the five sex positions, which you can do yourself by checking out some videos on a website such as sex free hd xxx, we found that men used the least amount of spine flexion in doggy-style as well as the missionary position as long as the male was propped up on his hands (as opposed to his elbows). If a man's low back pain is worsened by spine extension movements, such as arching their back or lying on their stomach, we would consider them to be extension-motion-intolerant. The ideal sex position for an extension-motion-intolerant patient would then be one that uses minimal spine extension, so as not to worsen the patient's pain. When we compared the five sex positions, we found that men used the least amount of spine extension in spooning and the missionary position as long as the male was propped up on his elbows (as opposed to his hands). (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 30.08.2014

Ian Gilron, MD, MSc, FRCPC Director of Clinical Pain Research Professor of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, and Center for Neuroscience Studies Queen's University Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ian Gilron, MD, MSc, FRCPC Director of Clinical Pain Research Professor of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Biomedical & Molecular Sciences, and Center for Neuroscience Studies Queen's University Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Gilron: Pain is the most common symptom which prevents recovery from surgery. Even with the best available treatments today, many patients still suffer from moderate to severe pain after surgery. Antidepressants - drugs used to treat depression - are also proven effective for treating chronic pain due to nerve disease and fibromyalgia. However, there has been much less research on the effects of antidepressant drugs on pain after surgery. Our group conducted a systematic review of all published clinical trials of antidepressant for post surgical pain. Slightly more than half of these studies suggested some benefit of these drugs but the details of this review led us to conclude that there is not yet enough evidence to recommend these medications for post surgical pain treatment. Given the possibility that these medications could be useful treatments for pain after surgery, we believe that future studies of higher scientific quality and which involve larger numbers of patients should be carried out in the hopes of finding safer and more effective treatments for pain after surgery. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Pain Research / 24.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: R Chris Williams PhD Honorary Fellow, Musculoskeletal Division The George Institute for Global Health Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Williams: We found that in addition to advice and reassurance, ‘regular’ or ‘as needed’ paracetamol did not improve recovery time for people with low back pain, compared to placebo. We also found the pain intensity and a range of other relevant measures, such as patient’s physical function was not different between the treatment groups. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pain Research / 15.07.2014

Kurt Kroenke, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Director of Education and Training Programs, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Core Investigator, VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and CommunicationMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kurt Kroenke, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Director of Education and Training Programs, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Core Investigator, VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kroenke: The telecare intervention including monitoring of pain using automated phone calls or the Internet with contacts by a nurse care manager who met weekly with a physician pain specialist to discuss treatment of new patients or patients already being followed who were not improving.
  • Almost twice as many patients in the telecare group had improvement in their pain compared to the usual care control group (52% vs. 27%).
  • Moreover, nearly twice as many patients in the usual care group got worse over 12 months (36% vs. 19%).  Thus, patients with chronic pain may not only fail to improve with current treatment, they in fact can get worse over time.
  • Although one-third of these chronic pain patients were on opioids at start of study, there were very few patients in which opioids needed to be started or dose increased.
  • The intervention group was about equally divided between those who chose to do automated symptom monitoring (ASM) by IVR (51%) or internet (49%).  The majority of patients rated the monitoring as easy to do, and the telecare intervention helpful.
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Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, NEJM, Pain Research, University of Michigan / 11.06.2014

William D. Chey, MD, AGAF, FACG, FACP, RFF Professor of Medicine Director, GI Physiology Laboratory Co-director, Michigan Bowel Control Program University of Michigan Health SystemMedicalResearch.com Interview with: William D. Chey, MD, AGAF, FACG, FACP, RFF Professor of Medicine Director, GI Physiology Laboratory Co-director, Michigan Bowel Control Program University of Michigan Health System MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Chey: Opiate analgesics are the most commonly prescribed medications in the US. GI side effects are common in patients who opiates. Constipation is the most common and most bothersome GI side effect of opiates. Peripherally acting mu opioid antagonists have been shown to benefit a subset of patients with opiate induced constipation. In 2 large, randomized, placebo controlled phase III trials, the peripherally acting, mu-opioid antagonist naloxegol was found to improve constipation in patients taking opioid analgesics for noncancer pain. Response rates were significantly higher with 25 mg of naloxegol than with placebo (intention-to-treat population: study 04, 44.4% vs. 29.4%, P = 0.001; study 05, 39.7% vs. 29.3%, P = 0.02) in both studies. Benefits were seen with the lower 12.5 mg dose in one of the studies (intention-to-treat population, 40.8% vs. 29.4%, P = 0.02). An interesting aspect of this study was the a priori inclusion of patients who had tried and failed to respond to other laxatives prior to enrollment. Response rates in this population were similar to the overall population (patients with an inadequate response to laxatives: study 04, 48.7% vs. 28.8%, P = 0.002; study 05, 46.8% vs. 31.4%, P = 0.01). Pain scores and daily opioid dosing were similar among the three groups before and after treatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Duke, Pain Research / 26.05.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of BiochemistrySeok-Yong Lee, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Ru-Rong Ji, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Duke University Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurobiology Chief of Pain ResearchRu-Rong Ji, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor  of Duke University Professor of Anesthesiology  and Neurobiology Chief of Pain Research Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

 Answer: We have developed an antibody that can block the pain and itching sensations in mice simultaneously with high efficacy. We would like to point out that our discovery has the potential to be applied to human once the antibody is humanized. Given the high selectivity, general safety profile, and long half-lives of monoclonal antibodies, this method we developed to raise antibodies against therapeutic targets (e.g., ion channels) can have broad applications to other diseases. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Pain Research, Stroke / 15.05.2014

MedicalResearch Interview with: Dr. Teshamae Monteith MD Assistant professor of Neurology Chief of the Headache Division University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Monteith:   
  • A doubling of silent brain infarctions in those with migraine even after adjusting for other stroke risk factors;
  • No increase in the volume of white-matter hyperintensities (small blood vessel abnormalities) that have been associated with migraine in other studies;
  • Migraines with aura — changes in vision or other senses preceding the headache — wasn’t common in participants and wasn’t necessary for the association with silent cerebral infarctions.
  • High blood pressure, another important stroke risk factor, was more common in those with migraine. But the association between migraine and silent brain infarction was also found in participants with normal blood pressure.
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Breast Cancer, Mayo Clinic, Pain Research, Pharmacology / 06.05.2014

Judy C. Boughey, MD Chair, Division of Surgery Research Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Judy C. Boughey, MD Chair, Division of Surgery Research Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Boughey: Use of paravertebral block (a form of regional anesthesia) in women undergoing mastectomy results in less need for opioid medications and less frequent use of anti-nausea medication after surgery. (more…)
Mayo Clinic, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 05.04.2014

Dr. Juliane Bingener-Casey, M.D. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Juliane Bingener-Casey, M.D. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. MedicalResearch.com:  What are the study’s main findings? Dr. Bingener-Casey:  “Patient-reported outcomes such as pain and fatigue are sensitive tools to detect how well patients recover from surgery. These patient-reported outcome results are different for men and women and for older versus younger people.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Disability Research, Johns Hopkins, Pain Research, Rheumatology / 27.03.2014

Dr Damian Hoy University of Queensland School of Population Health Herston, AustraliaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Damian Hoy University of Queensland School of Population Health Herston, Australia

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hoy: The study was part of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study, which was conducted by the University of Queensland, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Washington, and hundreds of disease experts throughout the globe. It is the largest ever public health study. It compared the overall burden (in terms of both death and disability) of the most common 291 diseases/conditions in the world. Low back pain was found to cause more global disability than any other disease/condition. If this is something you are going through, it may be worth knowing that marijuana strains for back pain is one of the most powerful remedies. You've possibly tried everything in the shop and over the counter medicine. So why not give this a go and see how you get on. There's no harm in trying. Global disability from low back pain is increasing. There is an urgent need for global, regional and national agencies to pay far greater attention to the disability caused by low back pain. In the developed world there are low back pain therapy treatments available whereas, in the developing world things aren't as accessible. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, Pain Research, Pharmacology, Radiology, University of Michigan / 17.03.2014

Dr. Brian C. Callaghan MD Department of Neurology University of Michigan Health System, Ann ArborMedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation with: Dr. Brian C. Callaghan MD Department of Neurology University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Callaghan:  The main findings are that we order headache neuroimaging (MRIs and CTs) frequently, this accounts for approximately $1 billion dollars annually, and the number of tests ordered is only increasing with time. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Emergency Care, Pain Research, Pharmacology / 16.03.2014

Maryann Mazer-Amirshahi PharmD, MD1MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maryann Mazer-Amirshahi PharmD, MD The Department of Emergency Medicine, The George Washington University The Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found a significant increase in the prescribing of opioid pain medications in the emergency department. At the same time, this was not accounted for by a similar increase in pain-related visits and prescribing patterns of non-opioid analgesics did not change. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pain Research, Rheumatology, Sleep Disorders / 14.02.2014

dr_john_mcbethMedicalResearch.com Interview: Dr. John McBeth Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre Keele University in Staffordshire MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. McBeth: In this study, reporting musculoskeletal pain was common with just under half of participants reporting some pain and one quarter reporting widespread pain. Of those who were free of WP at baseline, 19% reported new onset widespread pain at three year follow up. In addition to osteoarthritis, sleep, cognitive impairment, anxiety and physical health independently predicted the onset of widespread pain and are important treatment targets. In this study non-restorative sleep was the strongest predictor of new onset widespread pain. Sleep is a modifiable target that could improve outcome in this patient group. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Journal Clinical Oncology, Pain Research / 01.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Fengmin Zhao, MS,PhD Biostatistician Department of Biostatistics & Computational Biology Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA 02215 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zhao: We analyzed 2,761 patients in this study. We found that at initial assessment, 53.0% of patients had no pain, 23.5% had mild pain, 10.3% had moderate pain, and 13.2% had severe pain. Overall, one third of patients with initial pain had pain reduction within 1 month of follow-up, and one fifth had an increase. Inadequate pain management was significantly associated with pain deterioration in these patients, as were lower baseline pain level, younger age, and poor health status. Of the patients without pain at initial assessment, 28.4% reported pain at the follow-up assessment (8.9% of them were moderate to severe pain), and more than half of them received inadequate pain management. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Johns Hopkins, Mental Health Research, Pain Research / 07.01.2014

Madhav Goyal MD, MPH Assistant Professor General Internal Medicine Johns Hopkins School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Madhav Goyal MD, MPH  Assistant Professor General Internal Medicine Johns Hopkins School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Goyal:
  • The evidence is moderately strong that there is a small but consistent benefit for mindfulness meditation programs to improve 3 symptoms: anxiety, depression, and pain.  We found low level evidence that mindfulness meditation helps with symptoms of stress and distress, as well as with the mental health dimension of quality of life.
  • For the symptoms of anxiety and depression for which we find moderate evidence of benefit, we need to keep in mind that most of the trials didn't study people with a clinical diagnosis of anxiety or depression (although a few did).  Most were studying diverse patient populations who may have had a low level of these symptoms, such as those with  breast cancer, fibromyalgia, organ transplant recipients, and caregivers of people with dementia.
  • We found about a 5-10% improvement in anxiety symptoms compared to placebo groups.  For depression, we found a roughly 10-20% improvement in depressive symptoms compared to the placebo groups. This is similar to the effects that other studies have found for the use of antidepressants in similar populations.
  • While we found that the evidence was moderately strong that mindfulness meditation programs may improve pain, there weren't as many trials evaluating chronic pain, and so we don't understand what kinds of pain this type of meditation may be most useful for.
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Author Interviews, JAMA, Pain Research, Pediatrics / 26.12.2013

Scott W. Powers, PhD APBB Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OhioMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott W. Powers, PhD APBB Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Powers: Cognitive behavioral therapy plus amitriptyline resulted in greater reductions in days with headache and migraine-related disability compared with the use of headache education plus amitriptyline.  Children and adolescents with chronic migraine began the study with an average of 21 days with headache per 28 days and disability measured in the severe range.  After 20 weeks of treatment, 2 out of 3 participants in the CBT group had a 50% or greater reduction in headache days and 3 out of 4 had a reduction in disability to the mild to none range. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pain Research / 04.12.2013

Morten Sejer Hansen Department of Anaesthesia 4231 Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Morten Sejer Hansen Department of Anaesthesia 4231 Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Out-of-hospital administration of intranasal fentanyl in doses of 50 and 100 microgram appears to be safe and well tolerated, with a low incidence of side effects Secondly, intranasal fentanyl appeared effective in a wide range of patients, although no firm conclusions on analgesic efficacy can be provided due to the lack of a placebo control. (more…)
Author Interviews, CMAJ, Orthopedics, Pain Research, University of Michigan / 19.09.2013

Chad M. Brummett, M.D. Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Health System Department of Anesthesiology Division of Pain Medicine 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 1H247 UH, Box 5048 Ann Arbor, MI 48109MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chad M. Brummett, M.D. Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Health System Department of Anesthesiology Division of Pain Medicine 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 1H247 UH, Box 5048 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Brummett: The study found that 42% of new patients presenting to a tertiary care pain clinic with a primary spine pain diagnosis met the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) survey criteria for fibromyalgia, which is a measure of widespread body pain and comorbid symptoms (e.g. trouble thinking, fatigue, mood symptoms, etc.).  Patients categorized as fibromyalgia-positive using the survey measure were distinctly different from those not meeting criteria.  In a multivariate regression model, independent predictors of being categorized as fibromyalgia-positive were female sex, higher neuropathic pain scores, anxiety, and lower physical function. (more…)
Author Interviews, CMAJ, Johns Hopkins, Pain Research, Pharmacology / 16.09.2013

Matthew Daubresse, MHS Research Data Analyst Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness Johns Hopkins School of Public Health 615 N. Wolfe Street, Suite W6023 Baltimore, MD 21205 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Over the past decade, prescriptions for non-opioid medications remained stable or declined among ambulatory pain visits in the United States. In visits for new-onset musculoskeletal pain, non-opioid prescribing decreased from 38% of visits in 2000 to 29% of visits in 2010. During this time, opioid prescriptions nearly doubled. Few patient, provider, and visit characteristics were associated with the likelihood of opioid receipt, suggesting increases in opioid prescribing have occurred generally across different groups of patients.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Cost of Health Care, Pain Research, Surgical Research / 30.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Conor P. Delaney, MD MCh PhD FRCSI FACS FASCRS The Jeffrey L. Ponsky Professor of Surgical Education | Chief, Division of Colorectal Surgery | Vice-Chair, Department of Surgery | Director, CWRU Center for Skills and Simulation | Surgical Director, Digestive Health Institute | University Hospitals Case Medical Center | Case Western Reserve University | 11100 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106-5047 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Our goal was to see whether the transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block reduced complications and shortened the hospital stay of patients undergoing colorectal operations.  The TAP block is a nerve block injection given at the conclusion of the operation which reduces pain in the operative area.  Results showed that the mean hospital stay dropped to less than 2.5 days after the surgical procedure, significantly lower than the 3.7 days which the University Hospitals Case Medical Center Care pathway had already described for more than 1,000 consecutive patients. In our new study, we employed the TAP block and the Enhanced Recovery Pathway (ERP) on 100 patients.  We found that 27 patients went home the next day and another 35 went home 48 hours after their operations. That is considerably better than the five or six days patients usually stay in the hospital after laparoscopic colorectal procedures, and certainly better than nine days often seen after an open operation.  With a third of patients leaving the day after colorectal resection, we feel these results are significant. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Ophthalmology, Pain Research / 07.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jelle Vehof PhD Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology King’s College London, St Thomas’ Hospital, Waterloo, London, England Department of Ophthalmology & Epidemiology University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Vehof: The current study provides the first empirical evidence that individuals with dry eye disease show altered pain sensitivity. Specifically, this study demonstrates that subjects with DED pain and discomfort complaints have lower pain threshold and pain tolerance of heat-based stimulus compared to those without. These findings support the hypothesis that a subset of persons with DED is more sensitive to pain. (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, Duke, Pain Research / 21.07.2013

Ru-Rong Ji, PhD Professor, Chief of Pain Research Department of Anesthesiology and Neurobiology Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ru-Rong Ji, PhD Professor, Chief of Pain Research Department of Anesthesiology and Neurobiology Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710 Neuroprotectin/Protectin D1 protects neuropathic pain in mice after nerve trauma MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found the pro-resolution lipid mediator protectin D1 (PD1), derived from the fish oil DHA, can effectively prevent nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. This treatment can also prevent nerve injury-induced neuroinflammation in the spinal cord (such as glial activation and expression of cytokines and chemokines, e.g., IL-1b, CCL2). These cytokines and chemokines are known to elicit pain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Duke, Fish, Nutrition, Pain Research / 18.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ru-Rong Ji, PhD Professor, Chief of Pain Research Department of Anesthesiology and Neurobiology Duke University Medical Center Box DUMC 3094, Durham , NC 27710 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found the pro-resolution lipid mediator protectin D1 (PD1), derived from the fish oil DHA, can effectively prevent nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. This treatment can also prevent nerve injury-induced neuroinflammation in the spinal cord (such as glial activation and expression of cytokines and chemokines, e.g., IL-1b, CCL2). These cytokines and chemokines are known to elicit pain. (more…)