Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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Correct use of terms in a manuscript or policy statement is important to meet the objectives of the paper. Inappropriate terms can be counter-productive. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the following: 'Terminology in national drug control legislation and policies should be clear and unambiguous in order not to confuse the use of controlled medicines for medical and scientific purposes with misuse' and terminology should always be respectful. ⋯ The commentary also suggests alternative wording. Assessment of terminology correctness is language sensitive and should therefore be conducted by native speakers. In all language communities, advocates should explore and discuss the terminology with health-care professionals and their clients/patients, and they should promote the use of correct vocabulary.
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Questions from patients about pain conditions, analgesic pharmacotherapy, and responses from authors are presented to help educate patients and make them more effective self-advocates. In reply to a question about benign fasciculation syndrome, the presentation, causes, treatment, and chances of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis will be discussed.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Mar 2015
Case ReportsManagement of severe pain due to lumbar disk protrusion.
Lumbar intervertebral disk protrusion can cause excruciating pain in severe cases, which can be exacerbated by activity such as sitting down and straining at stool. Acute sciatica due to disk rupture will improve within 1 to 3 months. ⋯ Severe cases can require opioid analgesia, however people taking opioids for pain relief frequently present with opioid-induced bowel dysfunction. The use of transforaminal steroid injections is a controversial issue and repeat steroid injections should be considered in light of the risk-benefit profile of the individual patient.
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The neurobiology of pain and analgesia exhibits plasticity in different pain states. Animal models allow the study of the pathways, neuronal plasticity, and pharmacology that reflect the pains many patients have. Inherited pain disorders may also indicate the pain-related roles of gene products. ⋯ Pain remains a subjective experience, and the search for objective measures or biomarkers of pain has so far not yielded definitive results. However, rational, mechanistic explanations for pain states are emerging, and a number of potential treatment targets that have recently been revealed by animal models of clinical pain conditions are beginning to be translated to the patient. This article outlines some of the major recent developments in preclinical and clinical pain science that have the potential to shape the development of new treatments for pain.