In this study, researchers at the University of Montreal, in Quebec, evaluated the response to alternative sources of omega-3 fatty acids (krill vs fish) in women with premenstrual syndrome. (more…)

Chronic pain is associated with depression.

Self-treatment of that depression with St John’s wort makes pain patients prone to a drug interaction with the potent pain drug, oxycodone (OxyContin), according to this study by researchers at the University of Turku, in Finland. (more…)

Researchers at the University College London, in the UK, tell us, “Many infants admitted to [the] hospital undergo repeated invasive procedures. Oral sucrose is frequently given to relieve procedural pain in neonates on the basis of its effect on behavioral and physiological pain scores.”

Here are the results of their study that measured brain activity during an acute painful procedure. (more…)

Aromatase inhibitors (listed below) are a class of drugs used to treat breast cancer and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women. Joint pain (arthralgia) is the main reason women stop taking this drug.

Researchers at the University of Barcelona, in Spain, used vitamin D to lower the risk of arthralgia. (more…)

Oops. Topically applied Arnica montana is reputed to decrease bruising and muscle pain.

But in this study, researchers at the Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program, in Sugar Land, Texas, found an opposite effect. (more…)

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) devices produce electrical currents to stimulate nerves through unbroken skin.

Here’s the Cochrane review. (more…)

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are the main drug category prescribed to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Their action on HMG-CoA lowers LDL cholesterol. But it also lowers coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) production in muscles where it’s needed to maintain muscle respiration and function.

Ms. Jessica Pomaikai Asherin at Pacific University, in Hillsboro, Oregon, reviewed the evidence for supplementing statin therapy with CoQ10 in order to lower the risk of stain-induced muscle pain and tenderness (myopathy). (more…)

Researchers at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, collected information from pain physicians and referral physicians who manage the care of patients in pain. (more…)

This Cochrane review examined the effects of music therapy on end-of-life care. (more…)

Researchers at the University Medical Centre Utrecht and De Hoogstraat, in The Netherlands surveyed the use of CAM in a large group of Dutch patients with spinal cord injury. (more…)