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 MorePhysician 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 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 MoreObjective To better characterize safety profiles associated with the intrathecal (IT) administration of morphine and ziconotide and discuss how they relate to mechanisms of action. Methods Published data were evaluated to identify potential relationships between safety profiles of IT morphine and IT ziconotide and their mechanisms of action. Results Potentially severe and clinically relevant adverse…
Read MoreNearly half of all soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have chronic pain. This is in contrast to the civilian rate of about 26%. The prevalence of chronic pain in returning soldiers and veterans is unprecedented and probably related to the types of injuries and improved survival rates from successful medical interventions in the field. …
Read MoreMaria C. Foy, PharmD, remembers the patient who first piqued her research interest in methadone policy—a pregnant, recovering heroine addict on methadone therapy who presented to Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa. “The incident made us aware that there was a real lack of understanding and knowledge on the use of methadone and the differences…
Read MoreBy Barby Ingle, President Power of Pain Foundation Imagine going from living an active life, where dance was a central part of your life, to living in pain that limits your every move. It happened to me. As head of Washington State University’s cheer and dance programs, physical fitness was a central and wonderful part…
Read MoreThe movie “Cake” starring Jennifer Aniston will be released Jan. 23rd. I will definitely be in the audience when it opens, and I urge everyone else to see it. Aniston stars as Claire, a woman who suffers from chronic pain. She becomes obsessed with the suicide death of one of the members of her support…
Read MoreImages of happy reunions, embraces with family members and young parents seeing their infant sons and daughters for the first time have followed the more than 10,000 veterans settling in to civilian life having returned from service in Afghanistan. These images however belie the fact that many combat veterans will return to civilian life plagued…
Read MoreHealthcare providers in the U.S. are poorly prepared to manage chronic pain, according to the National Institutes for Health. No argument here. Time Magazine’s Alexandra Sifferlin does an excellent job covering the January NIH report on this deepening crisis. But she ignores a crucial factor: how to pay for the interdisciplinary care that the NIH…
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