Pain

More than 1,000 pain clinics have opened in Florida in the last few years, leading to a thriving trade in illegal pill distribution.

Graduating medical school, "we" all stood and repeated, deep within our private solemnity, a modern version of the Hippocratic oath. Nowhere is a "we" to be seen. Instead, "I swear... I will keep... I will impart... I will follow..." transitions us from students to practitioners.

The results of a new Cochrane Systematic Review show that topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) treat short-term pain more effectively and have fewer side effects.

Patients suffering with back and neck problems return to work at different rates based on personal factors, according to thesis by a researcher at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A roundup of recent articles in the clinical literature that look at the use of smartphones and apps in a variety of healthcare specialties and settings.

Researchers studying a rare inherited pain disorder have identified a mutation that enhances the function of a specific ion channel as the cause. The results of the study were published in the June edition of the journal Neuron.

Using the Internet during patient visits can be a very useful tool, according to Dr. Pullen. Here, he describes some of his favorite websites to use while seeing patients.

Taking certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may increase the risks of dying from heart-related causes, according to a study published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Dr. Pullen's latest blog entry discusses this frequently asked office question, how it can have several different meanings, and how the answer may change, depending on what the question is really asking.

We spoke to Jay Parkinson, MD, recently to catch up on Hello Health, learn what new ventures he's involved in, and discuss his ideas on how to effectively improve the healthcare system.

For runners suffering with knee pain, a twice weekly hip strengthening regimen may prove effective at reducing, or eliminating, patellofemoral pain (PFP).

The past few years, Apple's WWDC conference has been mostly directed at developers. But as Apple fanboys/girls have become increasingly interested in anything Apple-related, and with the anticipation of some iPhone 4G news, consumers have begun to come out in droves along with developers. For those of you who could not make it, we present the Cover It Live platform below, which will extract all conversations on Twitter related to this event, and will also include videos, pictures, and other resources our editors find relating to WWDC announcements and news.

The drug methylnaltrexone can speed up the rate of bowel movements in patients suffering from non-malignant opioid-induced constipation. Results from a study presented at the American Pain Society's 29th Annual Scientific Meeting indicate that subcutaneous Methylnaltrexone administration can help to alleviate the symptom in some patients.

Google may be looking for alternatives to Microsoft and selecting the right EMR requires more than just a checklist of functions.

According to new national guidelines, cancer patients should find ways to exercise weekly both during and after treatment.

The Associated Press has released some guidelines pertaining to social media terms and usage in the new AP Stylebook; some changes are long overdue, and others are a bit of a headscratcher.

If we're serious about reducing healthcare expenditures in this country, is reducing physician income an essential and inevitable component of meaningful cost control and healthcare reform?

Investigators presented new research that reveals a possible genetic basis for why Aromatase inhibitor-associated arthralgia (AIAA) occurs in breast cancer survivors and shows promise for treating the side effect without interfering with the drug's efficacy.

The American healthcare system is finally on the road to a modern national IT infrastructure. Recently, the iMedicalApps team had the opportunity to speak to a small but ambitious group of IT professionals who aim to be at the forefront of this modernization by targeting the physicians with the lowest penetration of electronic health records, those in smaller private practices.

Intent is to curb perceived and actual conflicts of interest.

Two aspects of pharmacology - drug exposure and sparing of COX-1 activity - may be the reasons why NSAID use can cause upper GI toxicity.

The five-year study examined a number of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease risk factors in children between 4 and 19 years of age.

Opioid blocker extended-release injectable naltrexone (XR-NTX) reduces the brain's response to cues that may cause alcoholics to relapse, according to research at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

New criteria for diagnosing fibromyalgia was proposed by the American College of Rheumatology. The criteria were published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

Results of the European Pain in Cancer survey have shown that cancer pain and the side effects associated with cancer treatment have a "significant impact on the quality of life."

A new therapy based on the use of mobile devices and virtual reality could help patients with fibromyalgia, according to a team of researchers from the Labpsictec at the Universitat Jaume I of Castellon, the LahHuman Group at the Universidad Politecnica of Valencia, and the University of Valencia.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a smart pill that sends notification when it has been swallowed. The pill contains an embedded microchip and has a printed, digestible antenna on the outside made of nontoxic, conductive silver lines.

Psychological factors such as pessimism about recovery and depression may be major predictors of chronic pain in trauma patients, according to results of a study by Australian researchers published in The Journal of Pain.

Researchers at the University of Georgia have found that consuming ginger every day can help reduce muscle pain caused by exercise.

Physicians face a variety of "perverse" economic incentives that pit their financial self-interests against the well-being of their patients. And our current efforts at healthcare reform are not doing enough to fix these problems.