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pain management support group

For all of the chronic pain sufferers out there, whether it be from ... more

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Cervical disc herniated disc do not need to go to ...

Herniated disc, cervical disc without having to go to the hospital themselves, without the side effects can be...

Posted by Kharma

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0 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Cervical disc herniated disc do not need to go to the hospital Herniated disc, cervical disc without having to go to the hospital themselves, without the side effects can be...

Transplanted Stem Cells Prevent Disc Degeration

Intervertebral discs lie between adjacent vertebrae in the spine and are composed of three major structures...

Posted by cweinbl

Intervertebral discs lie between adjacent vertebrae in the spine and are composed of three major structures called nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus, and cartilage end plates. The nucleus pulposus of normal disc includes sparse chondrocytes surrounded by extracellular matrix which mainly consist of type II collagen and proteoglycan. It functions as a shock absorber against mechanical load due to its highly hydrophilic structure. Intervertebral disc degeneration accompanies aging, and it causes low back pain. To regenerate intervertebral discs, various approaches applying cytokines, gene transfection, and nucleus pulposus cells have been attempted in animal models. Some reports have demonstrated that transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) delayed degeneration of the nucleus pulposus.

An increasing number of reports have shown that MSCs can be isolated from other various mesenchymal tissues other than bone marrow, and that their similarities as MSCs and the specificities dependent of their MSC source are emerging [a name=IDA2ITTE> [a name=IDA5ITTE> . This comparative in vivo study showed that bone marrow MSCs and synovial MSCs produced a higher amount of cartilage matrix than adipose MSCs and muscle MSCs after transplantation into articular cartilage defect of the knee in rabbits. It also demonstrated that synovial MSCs expanded faster than bone marrow MSCs when cultured with 10% human autologous serum. This study investigated whether intradiscal transplantation of synovial MSCs delayed disc degeneration in a rabbit model. MSCs labeled with DiI or derived from green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing transgenic rabbit were used for tracking of transplanted cells. Furthermore, human synovial MSCs and rat nucleus pulposus cells were co-cultured in vitro, and their interaction was clarified by a species specific microarray system. Finally, it demonstrated the effectiveness and limitations of this method and advocated a possible mechanism to prevent intervertebral disc degeneration in a rabbit model.

Intradiscal transplantation of synovial MSCs prevented intervertebral disc degeneration in vivo. Co-culture assay in vitro revealed that nucleus pulposus cells dramatically changed their gene profile by interaction with synovial MSCs to inhibit expressions of the genes for degradative enzymes and inflammatory cytokines.

At 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 24 weeks postoperatively, the study evaluated with imaging analyses such as X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and histological analysis. To investigate interaction between synovial MSCs and nucleus pulposus cells, human synovial MSCs and rat nucleus pulposus cells were co-cultured, and species specific microarray were performed.

The implications of stem cell research are now focused upon regenration of disc material, which has the capacity to reduce or even eliminate the nociceptive and neuropathic pain associated with degenerative disc disease. This disease (and I have had it congenitally all of my life) can rob individuals of jobs, income and quality of life. For the first time, there is hope of rebuilding dessicated discs without the damage associated with surgical implantation of synthetic discs (where available).

This study, of course, is only a small step in the right direction. It must be successfully repeated with animals prior to human testing. Thus, we might be years away from human stem cell transplantation. However, it presents hope for the rebuilding of discs without the need for significantly invasive surgical procedures that even with a successful outcome, often leave the patient with ancillary damage and new pain.

Read the entire research report here: http://arthritis-research.com/content/12/6/R206 #.View Thread

Posted by cweinbl

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0 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Transplanted Stem Cells Prevent Disc Degeration Intervertebral discs lie between adjacent vertebrae in the spine and are composed of three major structures...

Study Shows Chronic Back Pain Erodes Concentration...

Recent research observes that people living with persistent spinal pain experience difficulties with mental...

Posted by cweinbl

Recent research observes that people living with persistent spinal pain experience difficulties with mental concentration and remembering information.

In the January 2011 edition of Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology, Russian researchers divided 64 patients with musculoskeletal pain syndromes in the lumbosacral area persisting for more than 3 months into 2 age groups: 30-50 years (n=41) and 51-60 years (n=23). A reference control group consisted of 20 healthy volunteers comparable in terms of gender, age, and level of education. All subjects underwent clinical neurological, orthopedic, and psychological evaluations.

In patients with chronic spinal pain, complaints of difficulty with mental concentration were present in roughly 17%, and 1-in-5 (20.2%) had problems with remembering information. Also, compared with healthy subjects, patients with chronic pain in both age groups had significantly worse performance in tests assessing attention, mental flexibility, and in visuomotor coordination (for example, reduced ability to control the direction of hand movement while tracing the changing path of a printed line, as found in patients with Parkinson's disease).

Cognitive dysfunctions in younger patients were worsened by pain intensity and negative emotional characteristics of pain, particularly anxiety. In older patients cognitive deficits were influenced by anxiety and emotional distress, and by their level of catastrophizing; that is, harboring irrational thoughts and excessive fears about the severity of their condition.

Typical side effects of powerful pain medications may act as an additive artifact to the enhanced cognitive disruption experienced by these chronic pain patients. Thus medicated chronic pain patients experience the double-whammy of cognitive impairment from pain and further impairment from the medications.

Having lived with chronic back and leg pain for 40 years, I can personally vouch for this study's conclusions. Chronic pain does appear to disrupt my normal cognitive functioning, particularly related to attention, concentration and communication processing. What's worse is the apparent additive effect of powerful opiate medications. This "double-whammy" leaves the patient with no viable solution. One is impaired with and without appropriate medications.

Until we experience a powerful pharmacological advance, chronic pain patients will remain impaired. The cost in terms of lost employment, productivity, personal and family relationships will remain a significant impediment to all of us in this predicament. Let's hope for molecular pharmacology breakthroughs in the near future.

Finally, chronic pain patients should take advantage of any and all viable mind-body therapy available. I've discovered that keeping my brain active (as a writer) helps. So does using biofeedback, acquired in pain management programs. However, our ability to multitask and continue to maintain effective cognitive performance might be severely limited.

Read the entire study here: http://updates.pain-topics.org/2011/01/chronic-back-pain-affects-memory.html .View Thread

Posted by cweinbl

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2 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Study Shows Chronic Back Pain Erodes Concentration, Memory Recent research observes that people living with persistent spinal pain experience difficulties with mental...

Naloxone ‘Reboots’ Opioid Pain-Relief System

Research has suggested potential benefits of using low-doses of the opioid antagonist naloxone to "reboot" the...

Posted by cweinbl

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0 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Naloxone ‘Reboots’ Opioid Pain-Relief System Research has suggested potential benefits of using low-doses of the opioid antagonist naloxone to "reboot" the...

Molecular battle for neuropathic pain relief...

TRP ion channels respond to mechanical, thermal, chemical and many other stimuli coming from the extra and...

Posted by cweinbl

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0 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Molecular battle for neuropathic pain relief... TRP ion channels respond to mechanical, thermal, chemical and many other stimuli coming from the extra and...

Smoking Pot Decreases Neuropathic Pain

A new Canadian research study reports that smoking high-THC cannabis reduces neuropathic pain. This...

Posted by cweinbl

A new Canadian research study reports that smoking high-THC cannabis reduces neuropathic pain. This recently-published report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests that smoking marijuana, or "pot," can reduce symptoms of pain, improve mood, and aid sleep in patients with chronic neuropathic pain. However, this study actually provides only a smidgen of valid evidence and much more research is needed before patients are advised to "light up" for better pain relief.

Read the entire article here: http://updates.pain-topics.org/2010/09/is-smoking-pot-helpful-for-neuropathic.html#comment-form .

It is known that THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, binds with opiate receptors in the brain. So, it should come as no surprise that the qualitatively higher THC content in this study results in significant pain reduction. That the participants report a feeling of "caring less" about their pain might present an added effect, which should be further studied.

Another area of interest is whether oral THC (Marinol) has the same beneficial effect. Many people today use Marinol off-label for chronic nociceptive and neuropathic pain. An obvious area of interest for future research should be to explore any difference in efficacy between inhaled and ingested THC. A confounding factor might be the dozens of chemicals that enter the bloodstream when cannabis is smoked, compared with the single chemical associated with ingestion (THC). It is possible that some of the added chemicals associated with inhaling the drug are also beneficial to pain relief. And, of course, inhaled THC reaches peak plasma level much more swiftly than ingested THC. Might this alter the patient's perception of the quality of pain relief?

Tens of thousands of people have reported a decrease in pain associated with cannabis intake. This study only reinforces that belief. Unfortunately, this study used a rather small population. While the number of participants, particularly those using the highest THC content remains low, the results still appear statistically significant to some extent. Hopefully, future research will use much larger populations and will attend to the efficacy of oral THC, in addition to the inhaled option.View Thread

Posted by cweinbl

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6 Replies | ReplyReport This| Share this:Smoking Pot Decreases Neuropathic Pain A new Canadian research study reports that smoking high-THC cannabis reduces neuropathic pain. This...

Chronic Pain and Health

cweinbl from the Pain Management Exchange wrote the following; therefore, it is a direct quote: ...

Posted by BrenBren30813

cweinbl from the Pain Management Exchange wrote the following; therefore, it is a direct quote:

Previous research has demonstrated a clearly negative influence of chronic pain on health. Now, a new study portrays a profound link between severe chronic pain and death; inflicting nearly a 70% greater mortality risk than even cardiovascular disease.

Even after adjusting for various confounding sociodemographic factors and effects of long-term illness, patients with severe chronic pain had a 49% greater risk of death compared with all-cause mortality and a 68% greater risk of death compared with all cardiovascular-disease-related deaths.

The most critical information to take away from this research is that withholding appropriate pain medication is a virtual death sentence. Physicians who "don't believe in" using narcotic pain medication must read this comprehensive new research study. By withholding appropriate treatment, these physicians are sentencing some of their patients to an early death.

Secondary to this, families and friends of severe chronic pain patients must never try to dissuade the patient from using all appropriate treatments and medications to reduce pain. Convincing such a patient to avoid narcotics, if and when they are appropriate, is equivalent to pushing them into an early grave.

Instead, physicians and families must encourage the chronic pain patient to employ each and every possible treatment, including comprehensive pain management programs and powerful pain medications. It is no longer a matter of making someone more comfortable. It's a matter of life and death.

This new research is comprehenisve, vetted and validated. The methodology is convincing. The group sizes are well over minimum levels.

Read the entire article here: http://updates.pain-topics.org/2010/04/severe-chronic-pain-is-killer-study.html

REFERENCE: Torrance N, Elliott AM, Lee AJ, Smith BH. Severe chronic pain is associated with increased 10 year mortality. A cohort record linkage study. Eur J Pain. 2010(Apr);14(4):380-386 [abstract here >.View Thread

Posted by BrenBren30813

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We all get a little lucky sometimes...look in the ...

Posted by BrenBren30813

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Tips/Resources/Discussions/What's Happening Now

I would like to point out AS A TIP that the new layout that WebMD has adopted can become confusing,...

Posted by BrenBren30813

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Grabbing that bag of sugar!!! Big mistake??!!??!!

Hi all - well I've been a member of WebMd for gosh not really sure now with all the changes they've done! LOL...

Posted by bj1208

Hi all - well I've been a member of WebMd for gosh not really sure now with all the changes they've done! LOL but i've been here through the changes.

My story starts in 5/2006 - my lower back was hurting a little - where I could take an ibuprofen and it would go away - one day at work it seemed to be hurting more than usual and nothing seemed to help. After work I went grocery shopping. First on the list, SUGAR - so I went down the isle, bent over to get a bag of sugar and my back snapped! I was leaned over, had my hand on the bag of sugar an was 1/2 way putting it in the cart - I could not straighten up - so i went through the check-out (yes had to have sugar for my coffee!!) and went to my truck and drove home. That was the most painful trip I ever made. Once home I called my daughter's friend (we lived in CO at time, daughter was back in KC visiting her father) so her friends came over and took me to the ER - had x-ray done -nothing showed up (of course) gave me strong pain meds and valium - went home and took my meds - boy was i a mess - lost my temp job and had to try and pack the house as we were moving back to KC - i stayed on the couch and just turned over to get on my knees to crawl to bathroom etc., my daughters friends stayed with me til my daughter was home - had follow-up with my pcp - he gave me more meds and wanted me to see an ortho spine specialist - told him we were in the middle of moving back to KC so he gave me enough meds to make it back. Once back in KC I was able to get appointments set up with a PCP and PM - this was 6/2006 and from there to 12/2006 I had so many EPI's done then had to change PM's as ins changed and this was in 3/07 so he decided to start all shots, etc., over again but he was more extensive in his treatments where I had facet joints injections, radio frequency nerve ablation - nothing worked so went to see neurosurgeon then discogram and myelogram - yeppers needed surgery - so that was scheduled for 2/25/08 had ANTERIOR LUMBAR FUSION L5-S1 having a plate, screws and cage put in. I was doing great - 6th week post op and 100% fused!! and by the 3rd month post op bone was shown to be growing. I was feeling great - pains were decreasing - the by the 4th month everything went the opposite direction - my pains shot up to 10+ and have been that way since. Been to 3 PM's, PT and now an orthopedic spine specialist and are recent CT Scan shows I know have 3 bulging discs. am waiting for office to call and set up MRI as the surgeon does not agree with the written report versus the CT Scan so now the waiting game starts but this ortho is great - he said he's gonna find out what's going on and will give me a DX!!! which is great cause all the PM's I've been to gave up when their treatments didn't work.

Guess I really wanted to share my story like BrenBren did and am here to offer assistance etc and/or give or get help - we are all in this chronic pain issues as a family -

Pray for low pains for all - take care - God Bless - JoyView Thread

Posted by bj1208

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"What's Happening Now" VS "See all Discussions"

When you first visit this page, you are in the "What's Happening Now", which will display recent...

Posted by BrenBren30813

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Smoking Pot Decreases Neuropathic Pain

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