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Cluster headache (CH) can present with migrainous symptoms such as nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia. In addition, an overlap between CH and migraine has been reported. This study aimed to determine the differences in the characteristics of CH according to the presence of comorbid migraine.
Learn More >Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most prevalent and potentially disabling conditions for which people seek health care. Patients, providers, and payers agree that greater effort is needed to prevent acute LBP from transitioning to chronic LBP.
Learn More >Among the different types of pain observed in Parkinson's disease, parkinsonian central pain (PCP) has the highest severity, and is poorly characterized and difficult to describe not only by patients but also by neurologists. Thus PCP remains not strictly defined and is difficult to distinguish from other types of pain on the basis of clinical description. Yet, standardizing PCP diagnosis is critical to improve the treatment of this debilitating pain subtype, but also to homogenize further studies investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this condition. Accounting for the lack of reliable validated positive clinical criteria for PCP, and as the clinical features of PCP are difficult to specify, we suggest to consider so far the gold standard diagnosis of PCP mainly based on exclusion criteria. We propose a new algorithm aiming to disentangle PCP from other chronic pain subtypes in Parkinson's disease, by sequentially ruling out what PCP is not.
Learn More >The present study aimed to: (1) better understand physical activity levels in youth with chronic abdominal pain and (2) investigate the relationship between day-level physical activity related to next day pain intensity to identify any intra-individual heterogeneity.
Learn More >Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at 5 Hz and 10 Hz is effective in improving pain, sleep quality, and anxiety among patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). But it has not been reported which frequency is more effective and which frequency is safer.
Learn More >Chronic eye pain, which has previously been assumed to be due to ocular surface abnormalities (i.e., "dry eye disease"), has recently garnered attention as a potential indicator of neuropathic ocular pain in some patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory in individuals with eye pain (NPSI-Eye). Enrolled participants (n = 397) completed the NPSI-Eye, general pain severity questionnaires, dry eye symptom report, and psychological health indices. Participants also underwent mechanical pain sensitivity testing of the cornea, tear film assessment, and evaluation of the efficacy of anesthetic eye drops to relieve pain. Short-term test-retest reliability of the NPSI-Eye was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98, p < 0.001). Correlations between the NPSI-Eye and indicators of general eye pain were ≥ 0.65 (p < 0.001), while correlations between the NPSI-Eye and dry eye symptom severity and psychological health indices were lower (rho= 0.56, 0.32, 0.37; all p < 0.001). Individuals who reported little or no decrease in pain after anesthetic eye drops (hypothesized to indicate eye pain with at least partial central involvement) had significantly higher NPSI-Eye scores than participants whose eye pain was completely relieved by anesthetic (p < 0.05). Overall, our results support preliminary validation of the NPSI-Eye, yielding similar metrics to those reported in Bouhassira et al.'s original NPSI publication (2004). However, additional evaluation and refinement of some questions may be desirable, including the potential elimination of items that were not highly endorsed.
Learn More >Pain affects over 70% of individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with abdominal and musculoskeletal pain representing the most common complaints. Musculoskeletal pain in IBD is reported to be associated with multiple clinical features, however the scope and nature of pain is not well understood. Primary aims were to identify subgroups of musculoskeletal pain in individuals with IBD based on clinical features of pain, and assess how these subgroups differ in aspects of demographics, comorbidity, and IBD characteristics.
Learn More >Osteoprotic vertebral fractures(OFV) are common in elderly people. The association between back pain due to OVF with MRI signal change is unclear. In this study we hypothesized that MRI findingswould be a predictive factor for back pain measured by VAS at 6 months follow-up.
Learn More >Studies of the peripheral nervous system rely on controlled manipulation of neuronal function with pharmacologic and/or optogenetic techniques. Traditional hardware for these purposes can cause notable damage to fragile nerve tissues, create irritation at the biotic/abiotic interface, and alter the natural behaviors of animals. Here, we present a wireless, battery-free device that integrates a microscale inorganic light-emitting diode and an ultralow-power microfluidic system with an electrochemical pumping mechanism in a soft platform that can be mounted onto target peripheral nerves for programmed delivery of light and/or pharmacological agents in freely moving animals. Biocompliant designs lead to minimal effects on overall nerve health and function, even with chronic use in vivo. The small size and light weight construction allow for deployment as fully implantable devices in mice. These features create opportunities for studies of the peripheral nervous system outside of the scope of those possible with existing technologies.
Learn More >Triptans, the most efficient acute treatment for migraine attacks, are 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonists, but their precise mechanism of action is not completely understood. The extent to which triptans enter the central nervous system and bind to 5-HT1B receptors in the brain is unknown.
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