April 5, 2011
Getty Images
By Anne Harding
TUESDAY, April 5, 2011 (Health.com) — You don’t have to be a Buddhist monk to experience the health benefits of meditation. According to a new study, even a brief crash course in meditative techniques can sharply reduce a person’s sensitivity to pain.
In the study, researchers mildly burned 15 men and women in a lab on two separate occasions, before and after the volunteers attended four 20-minute meditation training sessions over the course of four days. During the second go-round, when the participants were instructed to meditate, they rated the exact same pain stimulus—a 120-degree heat on their calves—as being 57% less unpleasant and 40% less intense, on average. Read More
April 5, 2011
TUESDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) — Patients who are prescribed higher doses of opioid painkiller drugs (such as Oxycontin or Vicodin) are at increased risk of death from overdose than those given lower doses, a new study finds.
In fact, the study, published in the April 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found no increased risk for patients who take opioid painkillers both as-needed and as regularly scheduled doses.
Read More
March 28, 2011
Getty Images
By Matt McMillen
MONDAY, March 28, 2011 (Health.com) — Science has finally confirmed what anyone who’s ever been in love already knows: Heartbreak really does hurt.
In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you’re burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you. Read More
February 16, 2011
Getty Images
By Amanda Gardner
WEDNESDAY, February 16 (Health.com) — The power of positive thinking can reportedly work wonders for your career and social life. According to a new study, your attitude may also affect how well your pain medication works.
In a series of lab experiments, researchers in Europe found that a patient’s expectations about the effectiveness of a pain drug appear to override the properties of the drug itself. Read More
January 19, 2011
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) — More than 40 percent of cancer survivors experience pain, and the risk is highest among black and female patients, finds a new study.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System surveyed nearly 200 U.S. cancer survivors and found that 43 percent had experienced pain since their diagnosis, and 20 percent suffered chronic cancer-related pain at least two years later.
Read More
January 4, 2011
By Ellin Holohan
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) — Three treatments for chronic pelvic pain syndrome in men — antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and alpha-blockers or nerve inhibitors — were found to be effective in curing or reducing symptoms of the often puzzling condition, according to a recent analysis of published research.
The review, published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, noted that about 9 percent of men in the United States suffer from different types of inflammation of the prostate gland, accounting for about 2 million medical visits annually. Symptoms include pain in the pelvis, urethra or penis, back pain, trouble urinating and frequent urination.
Read More
December 15, 2010
By Julia VanTine
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) — A group that accredits many U.S. hospitals has urged hospital and emergency-room caregivers to watch for attempted suicides occurring in their facilities — even in patients with no history of psychiatric problems.
The new alert, issued by the Joint Commission, stresses that it’s not just psychiatric patients who kill themselves, citing as an example someone recently diagnosed with cancer who goes to an ER because the cancer-related pain has become unbearable.
Read More
December 13, 2010
Getty Images
By Denise Mann
MONDAY, December 13 (Health.com) — Doctors are increasingly turning to Oxycontin and similar painkillers to treat arthritis and other conditions in older people, but the drugs may not be as safe as once thought. A new study suggests that elderly arthritis patients who take these drugs—known as opioids—are 4.5 times more likely to break their hip, pelvis, wrist, or upper arm than those taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.
In a given year, about 1 in 10 older people who take an opioid will break a bone, compared to about 1 in 50 people taking COX-2 inhibitors, a more targeted form of NSAID, the study found. Read More
November 19, 2010
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) — The opioid-based painkillers Darvon and Darvocet are being withdrawn from the U.S. market because they’ve been linked to serious and potentially deadly heart rhythms, federal officials said Friday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals — which makes Darvon and Darvocet — is voluntarily taking the drugs off the market. The active ingredient in these drugs is propoxyphene. The agency has also asked the makers of generic versions of propoxyphene to remove them from the market.
Read More
August 30, 2010
Getty Images
By Amanda Gardner
MONDAY, August 30 (Health.com) — People with chronic pain who aren’t getting enough relief from medications may be able to ease their pain by smoking small amounts of marijuana, a new study suggests. Read More
