Articles: chronic.
-
Pain sensitivity and the brain structure are critical in modulating pain and may contribute to the maintenance of pain in older adults. However, a paucity of evidence exists investigating the link between pain sensitivity and brain morphometry in older adults. The purpose of the study was to identify pain sensitivity profiles in healthy, community-dwelling older adults using a multimodal quantitative sensory testing protocol and to differentiate profiles based on brain morphometry. ⋯ While sufficient evidence exists demonstrating pain sensitivity profiles in younger individuals and in those with chronic pain conditions, the finding that subgroups of experimental pain sensitivity also exist in healthy older adults is novel. Identifying these factors in older adults may help differentiate the underlying mechanisms contributing to pain and aging.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Dupilumab reduces oral corticosteroid use in patients with corticosteroid-dependent severe asthma: An analysis of the phase 3, open-label extension TRAVERSE trial.
Many patients with severe asthma require chronic corticosteroid treatment to maintain asthma control. ⋯ In the open-label TRAVERSE study, dupilumab demonstrated the ability to sustain the OCS dosage reduction from the parent OCS-sparing study, while maintaining a low exacerbation rate and improved lung function.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Observing treatment outcomes in other patients can elicit augmented placebo effects on pain treatment: a double-blinded randomized clinical trial with patients with chronic low back pain.
Clinical research on social observational learning (SoL) as an underlying mechanism for inducing expectancy and eliciting analgesic placebo effects is lacking. This double-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial investigated the influence of SoL on medication-augmenting placebo effects in 44 patients with chronic low back pain. Our hypothesis was that observing positive drug effects on pain and mobility in another patient could increase pain reduction and functional capacity. ⋯ After the intervention, pain decreased in both groups (F [1, 41] = 7.16, P < 0.05, d = 0.83), with no difference between groups. However, the SoLG showed a significantly larger decrease in perceived disability (F [1, 41] = 5, P < 0.05, d = 0.63). The direct observation of patient with chronic low back pain of positive treatment outcomes in the sham patient seems to have enhanced the treatment effects while indirect verbal reports of reduced pain did not.
-
Chronic pain, cognitive deficits, and pain-related disability are interrelated. The prevalence of chronic pain and undiagnosed cognitive difficulties in middle age and older adults is increasing. Of the cognitive systems, executive function and episodic memory are most relevant to chronic pain. We examined the hypothesis that cognitive screening composite scores for executive function and memory would negatively associate with pain intensity and pain disability in a group of middle-aged and older adults with knee pain with or at risk for osteoarthritis. ⋯ The results of the current study demonstrates associations between pain metrics and cognitive domain scores within a common cognitive screening tool.
-
Meta Analysis
Association of Non-Obstructive Chronic Bronchitis with All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis.
The effect of nonobstructive chronic bronchitis (CB) on mortality is unclear. ⋯ Nonobstructive CB is associated with increased all-cause mortality, and this association seems to be present only in current and former smokers. Further research should investigate whether this high-risk population may benefit from early therapeutic intervention.