A comprehensive guide to Arthritis, exploring its symptoms, types, causes, and effective treatment options to manage joint pain and improve mobility.
Immediate treatment by a physiotherapist, bypassing a waiting list, can reduce problems with recurring low back pain, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Many people suffer with low back pain, and most get better. However, those who suffer with long-term pain can find that their work, everyday and leisure activities are limited to varying degrees. Given that long-term pain often requires extensive treatment, it is important that the pain be treated at…
Is the science of diagnosing pain causing a number of pain sufferers to defend their honor? Research out of the University of Cincinnati is examining the diagnosis of pain that evades scientific testing, and the additional emotional suffering that can result for the patient. Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More…. The research by Elizabeth Sweeney, a doctoral candidate in UC’s Department of Sociology, was presented August 16 at the 105th annual…
Chronic muscular pain may be linked to a previously unknown principle for how pain signals are transmitted in the human body. This is shown by Umeå University researchers Tuija Athanassiadis and Karl-Gunnar Westberg, in collaboration with Canadian associates, in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More…. Muscles have sensory organs called muscle spindles. Their task is to inform the brain of changes in muscle length. Muscle spindles…
A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Working with mice, the researchers, led by Kathleen Sluka, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Program in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, found that a protein involved…
Pregnant women with fibromyalgia (FM) experience significant pain, fatigue and psychological stress, symptoms that are often misdiagnosed or undertreated as a normal part of pregnancy, according to a pilot study by Karen M. Schaefer, D.N.Sc., R.N., assistant professor of nursing at Temple University’s College of Health Professions. Her research, the first to look at the impact of pregnancy on women with FM, was recently presented at the 2006 Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal…
“Giant cell arteritis requires ongoing management, but it does not necessarily require continuous treatment.” In 2017, tocilizumab (Actemra), a biologic drug that inhibits interleukin-6 (IL-6), was FDA-approved for giant cell arteritis — an inflammation of the lining of the arteries. At the time there was sufficient research showing that tocilizumab was better than prednisone (a steroid) for helping many patients reach remission in GCA. Yet it was unclear whether those who had reached remission should…
Some people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) take a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) and/or a biologic and reach remission. Others try drug after drug after drug and never find one that’s effective — or that treats their symptoms without causing intolerable side effects. At the same time, other patients with active disease refuse to take the most powerful and effective medications on the market or can’t take them because of their medical history or personal risk…
The anti-malarial drug lowers cholesterol and blood sugar makes blood less sticky, which is good for reducing blood clots and heart attack risk. If you take the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) as part of your treatment for lupus or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you may be getting cardiovascular protection as an added bonus. That’s welcome news because it’s estimated that about half of lupus patients experience heart complications, and heart attacks occur at younger ages in…
Screening is important because silent hepatitis B and C infections can spring to life when you start biologics or new synthetic DMARDs. Before you start taking a biologic drug or one of the new targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), several screening tests are recommended. These include tests to see whether you have hepatitis B or C in your body that isn’t causing symptoms but might be reactivated after you start these powerful immune-suppressing drugs.…
A new study adds support to the theory that psychological stress might increase the risk of fibromyalgia and make symptoms worse. No one knows what causes fibromyalgia but some experts believe that stress may be a common trigger, especially in people who are susceptible to this chronic pain condition for physiological reasons. Now a new study adds support to the theory that psychological stress might increase the risk as well as lead to worse symptoms…