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Arthritis – Nervous System and Nerve Growth Factors Have a Major Role

June 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

In an experimental study conducted in arthritic rats, the researchers at McGill university, Canada have found that the nervous system and nerve-growth factor (NGF) play a major role in arthritis.

The study by Longo and colleaguse has been published by Journal of Neuroscience. online on June 12,2013.

Adequate treatments for arthritis are yet to come and existing therapies are not without serious side effect. An effective treatment can be developed only when the process of arthritis is well understood.

Present study determined the importance of nervous system and nerve-growth factor in pain behavior of arthritis.

The findings also support the idea that reducing elevated levels of NGF – a protein that promotes the growth and survival of nerves, but also causes pain may be an important strategy for developing treatment of arthritis pain.

The researchers  examined inflammatory arthritis in the ankle joint of rats to look for  changes in the nerves and tissues around the arthritic joint.

They did this  by using specific markers to label the different types of nerve fibres and allow them to be visualized with a fluorescence microscope.

Normally, sympathetic nerve fibers regulate blood flow in blood vessels. Following the onset of arthritis in the rats, however, these fibers began to sprout into the inflamed skin over the joint and wrap around the pain-sensing nerve fibers instead. More sympathetic fibers were detected in the arthritic joint tissues, as well.

The results also showed a higher level in the inflamed skin of nerve growth factor

The researchers also found that on blocking fibers’ function, a reduction in pain was noticed.

Drugs that aim at preventing the production of elevated levels of NGF in arthritic rats may help in treatment of the condition.

Source

  1. Study points to role of nervous system in arthritis, McGill Press Newsroom.
  2. G. Longo, M. Osikowicz, A. Ribeiro-da-Silva. Sympathetic Fiber Sprouting in Inflamed Joints and Adjacent Skin Contributes to Pain-Related Behavior in Arthritis. Journal of Neuroscience, 2013; 33 (24): 10066
    DOI:10.1523/%u200BJNEUROSCI.5784-12.2013, Abstract
Filed Under: Arthritis, News, Pain Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Guidelines Aim to Reduce Infections After Surgery by 70%

June 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A team of researchers in University of Iowa has recommended guidelines that will cut the infection rate by 71 percent for staph bacteria and 59 percent for a broader class of infectious agents known as gram-positive bacteria.

The paper describing the guidelines has been published on June 13 in the British Medical Journal.

The researchers recommend three steps to reduce post-surgical staph infections:

• Swab patients’ noses for two strains of staph (MRSA and MSSA) before surgery
• Patients who have staph naturally in their noses, apply a anti-bacterial nose ointment in the days before surgery
• At surgery, give an antibiotic specifically for MRSA to patients who have the MRSA strain in their noses; for all others, give a more general antibiotic

Staph infections in hospitals are a serious concern and up to 85 percent of staph infections after surgery are descibed as to come from patients’ own bacteria.

Schweizer and colleagues conducted this study that included review of  39 studies of various surgical-site infection practices employed at hospitals nationwide.

Source

  1. Be Gone, Bacteria. Newswise
  2. M. Schweizer, E. Perencevich, J. McDanel, J. Carson, M. Formanek, J. Hafner, B. Braun, L. Herwaldt. Effectiveness of a bundled intervention of decolonization and prophylaxis to decrease Gram positive surgical site infections after cardiac or orthopedic surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 2013; 346 (jun13 1): f2743 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.f2743
Filed Under: Infections, News Tagged With: , , ,

Surgery Not Better Than Nonoperative Management in Degenerative Meniscal Tears of Knee

June 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A comparative study of meniscectomy and nonoperative treatment has shown that outcomes of the treatment are similar with or without surgery for degenerative horizontal tears of the medial meniscus.

The study, a randomized controlled trial by Yim et al, has been published online before print May 23, 2013 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine

Authors undertook the the study because it is not clear whether a degenerative horizontal tear of the medial meniscus should be treated with surgery.

With a hypothesis that the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic meniscectomy will be better than those of nonoperative treatment for a degenerative horizontal tear of the medial meniscus, they conducted this randomized controlled trial. [Read more...]

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Neurostimulation Reduces Need For Opoid Drugs in Chronic Pain – Guidelines Issued

June 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

International Guidance on Using Neurostimulation Announced

Neuromodulation Appropriateness Consensus Committee (NACC) comprising of more than 60 leading pain specialists, has created the first consensus guidelines for the use of neurostimulation in chronic pain.

Neurostimulation is field  of pain therapy that treats nerves with electrical stimulation rather than drugs.

The most common form of neurostimulation is  spinal cord stimulation (SCS). The therapy uses thin electrical leads which are placed under the  skin along the spinal cord. These leads are connected to a compact pulse generator that sends mild current along the leads.

This results into elicit a natural biological response and limit pain messages sent to the brain. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Pain Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Weather Does Not Affect Pain or Fatigue in Fibromyalgia

June 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Fibromyalgia affects about 2% of world population with women being affected more than men. Previous studies had been suggestive that weather changes may affect the symptoms of fibromyalgia but a Dutch research has reported that temperature, sunshine, and precipitation have no impact on fibromyalgia symptoms in female patients.

The study has been published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

The cause of fibromyalgia is not known a mystery. Previous studies had found an uncertain association between weather conditions and changes in fibromyalgia symptoms.

The present 333 female patients with fibromyalgia pain syndrome in the study. The average age of participants was 47 years. patients had the diagnosis of fibromyalgia for nearly 2 years.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Pain Management Tagged With: , , ,

New Technique Uses Ultrasound To Relieve Bone Pain in Metastases

June 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

According to a new research, high dose ultrasound targeted to painful bone metastases appears to brings quick relief with largely tolerable side effects. The research is done by scientists Joshua Meyer, Mark Hurwitz, Pejman Ghanouni, and Suzanne LeBlang at Fox Chase Cancer Center and would be presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Monday, June 3.

This new procedure known as MR-guided focused ultrasound, a concentrated beam of energy is delivered to specific nerve endings. Most of the patients received local anesthesia for the procedure in the present study.

107 patients were treated during the study and 35 patients in the control group received sham treatment. 67% of the treated patients [in comparison to 20% in sham treatment group] reported the status as much improved after the therapy and the relief continued through the end of 3 month study. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Tumours Tagged With: , , , ,

Clay Scaffolds For Bone Regeneration

June 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

According to a new research published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, clay may help to regenerate damaged bones.

The research work of Dr. Kalpana Katti, Dr. Dinesh Katti and Avinash Ambre includes a novel method that uses nanosized clays to make scaffolds to mineralize bone minerals such as hydroxyapatite.

This 3-D mesh scaffold is comprised of degradable materials that are compatible to human tissue. Over time, the cells generate bone and the scaffold deteriorates.

The nanoclays enhance the mechanical properties of the scaffold by enabling scaffold to bear load while bone generates.

The current findings point toward the potential use of nanoclays for broader applications in medicine.

The study has been published online Feb. 15, 2013.

The research mentions that nanoclays mediate human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into bone cells and grow bone.

its worth hoping that the promise of scientific research to generate human bone could have far-reaching implications in the future.

Source

  1. Newswise
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Regular Opioid Pain Killer use Linked To Erectile Dysfunction in Men

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

In a newly published research published in May issue of Spine, it has been reported that persons who regularly take opoid painkillers are associated with higher risk of erectile dysfunction.

The study  was a cross-sectional analysis of electronic medical and pharmacy records.

Electronic records of 11327 males with back pain  were studied  to find out if the men taking prescription painkillers were more likely to also receive prescriptions for testosterone replacement or ED medications.

Opioid use was categorized as

  • “none” for men who did not receive a prescription for opioids
  • “acute” for men who took opioids for three months or less
  • “episodic” for men who took opioids for more than three months, but less than four months and with fewer than 10 refills
  •  “long-term” for men who took opioids (a) for at least four months or (b) for more than three months with 10 or more refills.

Anything more than 120 mg of morphine equivalent was categorized as high-dose use. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Back Pain, News, Pain Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Osteoporosis – Denosumab+Teriparatide Superior To Single Drug Treatment

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Two osteoporosis drugs denosumab and teriparatide, when combined together in therapy, produce  increase bone density better than treatment with either drug alone. This has been reported by a study, a small clinical trial to be published in journal Lancet.

The study by Joy N Tsai et al has been conducted in Massachusetts General Hospital conducted a 12-month trial in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

From September, 2009, to January, 2011, 100 women of age equal to or greater than 45 years were subjected to  this randomized, controlled trial. [Read more...]

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Chronic Low Back Pain Linked To Bacterial Infection

May 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Forty percent of the chronic lower back pain could be caused by bacteria and a significant percentage of people with lower back pain following a herniated disc. This has been suggested by investigators from University of Southern Denmark.

The researchers further suggest that antibiotics may be considered as a treatment option for patients with chronic low back pain in selected patients.

Their findings, published in two papers, published in the April issue of the European Spine Journal.

The study included 61 adults (mean age, 46.4 years; 27% female) who had MRI-confirmed lumbar disc herniation and were undergoing surgery.

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Filed Under: Back Pain, News Tagged With: , , ,

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