Spine surgeons in the U.S. perform more than 400,000 spinal fusions each year as a way to ease back pain and prevent vertebrae in the spine from wiggling around and doing more damage. However, reports estimate that on average some 30% of these surgeries fail to weld these vertebrae into a single bone, causing continued back pain.
Read moreNew research shows that a specific mind-body therapy, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), increases the brain's response to natural, healthy rewards while also decreasing the brain's response to opioid-related cues.
Read moreThere is no effective vaccine currently available to prevent Lyme disease in humans. Experts from academia, government, and industry recently convened to tackle this public health challenge. Now, a new article reiterates the need to stop the infection, and defines a strategy for developing effective vaccines.
Read moreMutations in the gene that encodes a protein called ANT cause a variety of conditions, such as heart disease, but the underlying mechanism of how these mutations trigger disease has been unclear. Researchers discovered that ANT is critical for a quality control process called mitophagy — which helps to ensure the integrity of the mitochondria network — and found that mutations that lead to a defective quality control system cause heart disease.
Read moreA study describes a new rapid assay for Lyme disease that could lead to a practical test for use by healthcare providers. The researchers found the assay, which uses several biomarkers to detect Lyme disease infection, was more sensitive than current laboratory-based tests when diagnosing Lyme disease early after suspected infection.
Read moreHyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can relieve self-reported symptoms and side-effects of radiotherapy against cancer in the pelvic region, a study shows. After 30-40 sessions in a hyperbaric chamber, many patients experienced reductions in bleeding, urinary incontinence, and pain alike.
Read moreThis is big news for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients: 11% of the world's population suffers from IBS, but the fight against chronic pain has taken a major step forward with scientists identifying receptors in the nervous system which cause the condition in the hope of developing effective treatments.
Read moreIn a recent clinical study, a regimen of combined oral and topical corticosteroids were effectively used to treat patients who suffer from severe CRS with nasal polyps and for whom surgery is often the first option.
Read moreA research team found muscle cells treated with statins released the amino acid called glutamate at much higher levels than muscle cells that were untreated. As glutamate is a potent activator of muscle pain receptors, this release was proposed to trigger the sensation of muscle pain.
Read morePeople suffering from opioid addiction and chronic pain may have fewer cravings and less pain if they use both mindfulness techniques and medication for opioid dependence, according to researchers.
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