Dawn Anderson, a former nurse who was dying from multiple, painful conditions, faced far worse than just death. She was dying in agony, as hospital staff refused to provide opioid pain relievers that had worked well in the past. Here is Dawn's chilling story, which is the quintessential example of the consequences of "opioid madness" and the cruelty it brings with it.
pain
Our ability to forget provides a survival advantage – while assuaging suffering in the process.
The knee is an incredibly complicated structure, which is why "knee pain" can be rather challenging to address. New research examines the physical distribution of knee pain and finds three common patterns.
Ours is a culture that prioritizes instant gratification, and is instinctually reflexive about taking a pill or other fix immediately to end pain. When, actually, it is pain that can in a number of conditions be our greatest gift.
Chronic pain is a major public health challenge. The reason is that the treatment of chronic pain has become, in part, a political issue. And that's to the detriment of 20 million high-impact chronic patients, who are disproportionately women or poor people.
As if our policies for treatment of pain patients aren't horrific enough? If you happen to be black or Hispanic and suffer from Sickle Cell Disease, life is far worse. Do patients with a known, easily-diagnosed disease get a break with pain relief? No, it's quite the opposite. Disgraceful.
From a security standpoint, the only thing that matters is that our soldiers are effective at killing people and breaking things. Does acupuncture help accomplish that? We presented one opinion last week. Now, here's a second viewpoint on the matter.
Why do injuries like this cause significant problems? Because depending on which ribs are broken, organs like the liver, spleen and kidney can be harmed. Let's take a look at the scope of the problem.
Even in 2015 over 100 years after aspirin and heroin were discovered there's still no good (or even acceptable) way to treat pain, especially when it's chronic and severe. This unmet medical need is now a very hot topic, especially since the FDA recently approved OxyContin for children.
Endometriosis is an often painful condition among women, associated with menstruation and often accompanied by excessive bleeding. It is quite common and under-diagnosed, and may account for half of all infertility. About seven million U.S. women are thought to have it. Medical and surgical treatments can help.