Health Conditions

What is on the horizon?

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has a Pain Research Group that strives to discover the underlying mechanisms of pain, fatigue and other symptoms. The group also organizes clinical trials to evaluate the best ways to improve symptom management. Their research currently focuses on educational, behavioral, and medical interventions for treating pain, fatigue, and impairments in the way the brain perceives pain. The group uses laboratory work and pictures of the brain to explore the connection between the mind and body. This allows them study the causes of pain and fatigue.

The Pain Research Institute in Liverpool, England is currently involved with several projects examining the neurophysiological response to pain. They have been using painful thermal stimuli to demonstrate which brain regions are responsible for painful sensations, and are developing techniques to investigate various clinical pain conditions (e.g. low back pain, phantom limb pain, post-stroke pain etc.). These new techniques may provide insight into how the brain interprets pain signals following injury.

Researchers are also studying new ways to relieve pain without drug therapy. In a recent study, alternative treatments such as meditation, tai chi, and muscle relaxation were shown to improve pain and functioning in older people with back pain, osteoarthritis, and other types of pain . The results from these and other such studies may someday help patients manage their pain while decreasing the risks and side effects of medication use.

Clinicians from different healthcare fields that treat pain now have common goals of relieving unnecessary suffering. An improved understanding of pain and pain control, coupled with more analgesic alternatives, has attracted broad interest from a variety of medical specialties. The future holds more promising options in pain control.