Archive for February 2015
A Q&A with Paul Gileno, U.S. Pain Foundation
Q: Has there been a change in the major concerns of people in pain over the past several years? If so, what are those changes? Paul Gileno: Sadly, YES! What I have seen as Founder and President of US Pain, and as an experienced person with pain — and what we hear from people with…
Read MoreA Rainbow of Hope for Chronic Pain
A rainbow is a symbol of hope and promise, its beauty connecting the earth with the sky. It is magical and spiritual. When I was growing up on our family’s farm in Nebraska, the rainbows over the wide-open landscape were breathtaking. I loved the smell of the air full of the ozone that preceded and…
Read MoreThe Debate Over Running While High
The grueling sport of ultramarathon has fostered a mingling of two seemingly opposite camps: endurance jocks and potheads. “If you can find the right level, [marijuana] takes the stress out of running,” says Avery Collins, a 22-year-old professional ultramarathoner. “And it’s a postrace, post-run remedy.” The painkilling and nausea-reducing benefits of marijuana may make it…
Read MoreStudy Suggests Physician Dispensing of Opioids in Florida Led to Overprescribing
Physician dispensing may have contributed to the unnecessary prescribing of strong opioids by some physicians in Florida, a recent study suggested. The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), an independent, notforprofit research organization, analyzed 46,192 claims from injured workers to gauge the effect of Florida’s antipill mill bill (HB 7095) on prescribing behavior. The ban, which went into effect on…
Read MoreThe Search for a Unique Solution to Chronic Pain
The Precision Medicine Initiative is an ambitious new plan announced by President Obama to find more precise treatments for various illnesses, in part by leveraging recent advances in genetic science. The idea is to do away with “one-size-fits-all” medicine not only through genotyping but also by using existing large datasets that already containing a wealth…
Read More