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Treatment for patients with chronic migraine is notoriously elusive. Pharmacologic options are few and only two medications-topiramate and onabotulinumtoxin-have shown significant treatment effect in clinical research to date. As with most pain maladies, however, medication isn't the only treatment avenue.

Skin-picking disorder (SPD) is a serious and poorly understood condition similar to hair-pulling disorder and severe nail biting, among other body-focused repetitive behaviors, in which a patient causes harm to themselves or their appearance. SPD is much more than a cosmetic problem, as repetitively touching, rubbing, scratching, or picking at the skin can lead to severe tissue damage, disfigurement, and even significant infection in some cases.

Perhaps even more controversial than the placebo effect is its converse, the nocebo effect-an adverse reaction to an ineffectual medication or procedure. For example, simply talking with a patient about potential side effects of a medication as part of an informed consent process can itself contribute to producing adverse effects.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new injection for the treatment of upper limb spasticity in adults. An estimated 1.7 million people suffer from the condition.

Treating patients with obesity or diabetes is no easy task for doctors despite the large number of options available to them and their patients. Taking into account the demographics of the patient population as well as the overall health of their individual patient.

As hepatitis C becomes a curable condition and fatty liver disease becomes a growing problem hepatologists are being forced to shift their focus to help a new patient population without some of the tools they have become used to having at their disposal.

A widely accessible medication commonly used to treat psychiatric disorders may also inhibit the damaging effects of osteoarthritis.

A new drug currently in testing, DSM265, may be exhibiting all the signs of a potential cure and preventative treatment for malaria – in a single dose.

New antivirals that can cure hepatitis C infection have changed more than patients' prognoses. MD Magazine interviewed a liver transplant specialist, a transplant recipient, a patient cured by the new antivirals, and their physicians.

Like many urban centers in the Northeastern US, Philadelphia has a chronic shortage of donor livers. But the advent of new antivirals that eradicate hepatitis C infection is starting to change that picture. In a visit to Hahnemann University Hospital, MD Magazine spoke to specialists and patients who are seeing what a difference those drugs can make. Video interviews follow the article.

For the first time, disease-specific genetic changes have been connected with rheumatoid arthritis.

A dissolvable microneedle patch provides just as much protection against the flu as typical needle delivered vaccines, according to researchers from Osaka University.

An antiepileptic drug proved to be efficacious in treating the progression of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

Using nanotechnology to routinely release nitric oxide could potentially be an effective treatment method for acne.

Spinal cord injury incidence was stable over the past 2 decades, according to an investigation published in JAMA.

GM CFS may be an effective novel therapy for multiple sclerosis.

Heart disease risk is increased with the presence of rheumatoid arthritis.

Boston researchers say they have found the direct cause and potential cure for neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury.The culprit, they write, is a misshapen and toxic brain protein, one they say they can destroy with a targeted antibody.

Collaboration between dermatologists and oncologists is crucial.

A two-step treatment plan that combines pharmaceutical analgesics, self-management strategies, and cognitive behavioral therapy is associated with greater improvements in pain severity and pain-related disability in veterans compared with usual care.

Tocilizumab treated rheumatoid arthritis patients are at an increased risk for major adverse cardiovascular events, according to a study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

A blood brain barrier protein may exacerbate symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, according to research published in Nature Neuroscience.

Blood samples can substitute for tumor biopsies for lung cancer patients, according to findings published in JAMA Oncology.

While it was recently determined that endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER) plays an intricate role in neuropathic pain, a team from Hiroshima University has found another factor that contributes to pain.

A recent study in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases reviewed data from six phase II, six phase III, and two long-term extension studies to examine the safety profile of tofacitinib, the first oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Cirrhosis is a serious problem for patients with the condition and while treatment has made great strides in recent years there is still more that can be learned to help more patients with more effective treatments.

Evidence is mounting that getting enough sleep is a key to preventing Alzheimer's disease.

Treatment with anti-TNF drugs and DMARDs is associated with clinically significant improvement measures of work disability such as presenteeism and productivity loss in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

One of the biggest challenges in the fight against HIV and viral hepatitis has been the lack of knowledge some countries have about the spread of the diseases and ways to monitor the problem before it gets out of hand. The World Health Organization has been working to combat this issue in Europe and other parts of the world.

Study shows that diabetes duration (ie, how long they've had the disease) is linked with an increased risk of thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation, but not with an increased risk of anticoagulation-related bleeding.