Decreased pain Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Brain Imaging + Virtual Reality Shows Promise for Effectively Managing Cancer Pain

The AHA! Team — Wed, 14 May 2025 05:38:10 +0000

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center via Newswise – Roswell Park-led study takes a significant step toward relief without opioids Highlights Advanced brain imaging gauges pain objectively Virtual-reality relaxation program found clinically effective for pain relief More than 75% of patients who used VR reported a decrease in pain A clinical research study Newswise — BUFFALO, N.Y. — A clinical research study led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a way to objectively measure pain in cancer patients and treat it effectively without opioids. Published in Scientific Reports, the study advances the goal of better managing cancer pain using a non-invasive brain imaging technology and a non-drug treatment that incorporates virtual reality (VR). The project was led by principal investigator Somayeh Besharat Shafiei, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology in Roswell Park’s Department of Urology, and co-investigator Oscar de Leon-Casasola, MD, Chief of Pain Medicine at Roswell Park, and included team members from Roswell Park and the University of Guelph in Ontario. A new strategy They propose and assess a new strategy combining brain imaging with the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) — a way to gauge the severity of pain using a head cap fitted with optical sensors — and the use of virtual reality to provide pain relief. All participants wore fNIRS head caps to record brain activity by measuring changes in blood oxygenation and deoxygenation. This made it possible for the researchers to identify brain-based biomarkers that distinguish between three levels of pain: no/mild, moderate and severe. Some participants also used VR headsets equipped with software that allowed them to explore realistic underwater scenes. The researchers believe VR may influence a person’s perception of pain by modulating pain-related neural circuits in the regions of the brain. The study enrolled 147 participants, including: 13 healthy patients, who wore fNIRS head caps for 10 minutes 93 cancer patients experiencing pain, who wore fNIRS head caps for 10 minutes 41 cancer patients experiencing pain, who wore fNIRS head caps and VR headsets for a total of 29 minutes —10 minutes before VR, nine minutes during VR and 10 minutes after VR Of the pain-afflicted cancer patients who used the VR program, more than 75% self-reported a decrease in pain — indicating a noticeable improvement well beyond the clinically relevant threshold of 30%. Results of the brain imaging suggest that VR has an effect on both the cognitive and emotional aspects of pain. “This study signals a new era in precision medicine where neuroimaging and digital therapeutics revolutionize pain assessment and treatment,” says Dr. Besharat Shafiei, first author of the study, who notes that an estimated 60-80% of cancer pain is not properly managed. “This combination therapy could reshape clinical pain management protocols, reduce reliance on opioids, and improve the quality of life for millions of cancer patients worldwide.” To read the original article click here.

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When Using Music to Alleviate Pain, Tempo Matters

The AHA! Team — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 05:37:38 +0000

McGill University via EurekAlert! – We each have a natural rhythm, and music that matches it offers the best pain relief, McGill research suggests. Music has the best chance of providing pain relief when it is played at our natural rhythm, a McGill University research team has discovered. This suggests it may be possible to reduce a patient’s level of pain by using technology to take a piece of music someone likes and adjust the tempo to match their internal rhythm, the researchers said. The discovery was the subject of a paper published recently in Pain, the top journal in the field of pain medicine and research. Exploring which aspect of music lessens pain Music has been used to alleviate pain for centuries. In recent years, there has been increasing scientific interest in using music to treat medical conditions ranging from Parkinson’s disease to strokes and chronic pain. But little is known about how this might work. “There have been very few studies that really look at specific parameters of music to try to understand the effects of music on the brain,” explained Mathieu Roy, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill and the co-senior author of the paper. It has often been suggested that soothing or relaxing music works best as a pain reliever “In the past, it has often been suggested that soothing or relaxing music works best as a pain reliever,” added co-author Caroline Palmer, a Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Performance in the Department of Psychology and co-senior author of the paper. “But this didn’t seem precise enough. So, we set out to investigate whether the tempo — the rate at which a passage is produced and one of music’s core elements — could influence its capacity to reduce pain.” Our own internal beat may distract us from pain Research over the past decade has shown that whether we speak, sing, play an instrument or just tap along to music, we each have our own characteristic rhythm: the one to which we are most attuned and can produce most comfortably. It is thought that this rhythm, known as our spontaneous production rate (SPR), may be tied to our circadian rhythms. “It is possible that the neural oscillations that are responsible for driving our preferred tempo at a particular rate are more easily pulled along when a musical tempo is closer to our own natural tempo,” added Roy. “As a result, they are pulled away from the neural frequencies associated with pain.” The right beat reduces level of pain To find out whether listening to music at an individual’s natural tempo helped lower their experience of pain, the McGill researchers compared the pain ratings of 60 participants (some of whom were musicians and others not) as they were subjected to low levels of pain, either in silence or while listening to music that had been manipulated so that its tempo either matched the one that was most natural to each person or was slightly faster or slower. Each participant’s natural tempo was established by their tapping out the rhythm of a well-known nursery rhyme (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) at the rate that was comfortable for them. The touch-sensitive pad they tapped on produced the next tone in the sequence of the melody, thus capturing their natural tempo. Participants underwent 12 blocks of tests in which 10 seconds of heat at various levels was applied intermittently to small pads on their forearms Over the course of 30 minutes, participants underwent 12 blocks of tests in which 10 seconds of heat at various levels was applied intermittently to small pads on their forearms, interspersed with pauses of varying lengths. Participants either experienced the pain in silence or listened to an unfamiliar melody in a style they had selected at their preferred tempo, or at 15 per cent faster or 15 per cent slower. After each block of tests, they were asked to rate their level of pain. At worst, according to Roy, the pain was like what you feel when you touch the outside of a hot coffee mug and pull your hand away quickly because it’s too hot. The right beat reduces pain the most The researchers found that, compared to silence, music of whatever kind and at whatever tempo significantly reduced participants’ perceptions of pain. More important, they discovered the greatest reductions in the ratings of the levels of pain occurred when the melodies were played at a rate that matched the participant’s own preferred tempo. As a next step, the researchers said they would like to use electroencephalography to measure neural activity and confirm that the rate of neuronal firing synchronizes with the external tempo of the music. They also indicated that they hope to test their findings with people living with chronic pain or pain associated with medical procedures. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Research Chair and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Journal Pain DOI 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003513 To read the original article click here.

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Velvet Ant Venom May Yield Answers for Pain-Related Medical Research

The AHA! Team — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 06:26:40 +0000

Indiana University via Newswise – The Scarlet Velvet Ant, which is actually a type of wasp, has a venomous sting that is described as explosive and akin to “hot oil from the deep fryer spilling over your entire hand.” The study authors focused on how the venom interacts with nerve cells responsible for sensing pain. A new study by researchers at Indiana University Bloomington investigates why velvet ant stings are among the most excruciating in the animal kingdom, and offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolutionary arms race between predators and prey—while providing insights that may inform pain-related medical research. The Scarlet Velvet Ant, which is actually a type of wasp, has a venomous sting that is described as explosive and akin to “hot oil from the deep fryer spilling over your entire hand.” But while the sting is incredibly painful, it’s not particularly toxic, which suggests that its primary function is to act as a deterrent rather than to kill. The insect’s sting, along with its striking red-and-black coloration, serves as a warning to predators and an enduring reminder of its formidable defense mechanisms. The study, recently published in Current Biology, was authored by Lydia Borjon, Assistant Scientist in in the Tracey Lab at the Gill Institute for Neuroscience at IU, Luana Assis Ferreira, postdoctoral researcher in the Hohmann Lab at the Gill Institute, Jonathan Trinidad, Senior Scientist in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Chemistry, Andrea Hohmann, Professor in the College’s Psychological and Brain Sciences department and Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience, Sunčica Šašić (Human Biology B.S. ’24), and Dan Tracey, Professor in the College’s Biology department and Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience. Velvet ants, including the Scarlet Velvet Ant, are commonly found in the southern and eastern United States. They thrive in dry, sandy environments, and are often seen scurrying on the ground in search of nectar or other insects to parasitize. To understand how their venom works, the IU scientists turned to common fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, a common model organism for studying biological processes. (IU Bloomington is the home of three resource centers utilized by fruit fly researchers worldwide.) The study authors focused on how the venom interacts with nerve cells responsible for sensing pain. These cells, called nociceptors, respond to potentially harmful stimuli like extreme heat or sharp pressure. In fruit fly larvae, a specific group of these pain-sensing neurons was found to react strongly to velvet ant venom, even at extremely diluted concentrations. The team identified a key venom ingredient—a peptide called Do6a—that activates these nociceptors. Peptides are short chains of amino acids, and this particular one, Do6a, triggers pain-sensing ion channels in insects. (Ion channels are specialized proteins embedded in the membranes of cells that allow ions—charged particles—to pass in and out of the cell.) This ion movement is crucial for various physiological processes, including nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, and maintaining the cell’s resting potential. Notably, the targeted ion channels known as Pickpocket/Balboa (Ppk/Bba) in fruit flies bear a striking resemblance to Acid-Sensing Ion Channels (ASICs) found in vertebrates, including mammals and humans, highlighting a fascinating evolutionary link in how different organisms process pain stimuli. The Evolutionary Edge “Our study findings suggest that velvet ants target the pain-sensing systems of evolutionarily distant animals, including vertebrates, like mammals and birds, and invertebrates, like other insects, but it does so through different mechanisms” said Lydia Borjon. “We expected the simplest solution, that the venom would act through related receptors in both insects and mice, but we were surprised to find that this was not the case.” In fruit flies, the Do6a peptide is highly specialized and potent, while in mammals, other components of the venom—less potent and more generalized peptides—trigger the pain response. “Not only is Do6a a very strong activator of insect pain-sensing neurons, it is also the most abundant peptide in the venom. This implies that the defense against other insects was an important factor in the evolution of the venom contents,” Borjon added. This led the researchers to test the venom’s effectiveness against another insect species. They observed how praying mantises responded to being stung. The mantises displayed clear avoidance behaviors, underscoring the venom’s role as a powerful deterrent in the insect world. “This research underscores the incredible precision of evolutionary adaptations,” said Tracey. “Velvet ants have refined their venom to exploit specific molecular targets in a way that maximizes their survival advantage. It is remarkable that the venom evolved to target the nociception systems of vertebrates and invertebrates with such precision.” Species-specific adaptations and implications for pain research The researchers used advanced imaging techniques to observe how nerve cells in fruit fly larvae reacted to venom. They also conducted genetic experiments to confirm the role of Ppk/Bba ion channels. When these channels were removed or deactivated, the nerve cells stopped responding to the venom, proving that the channels are essential for the venom’s effects. When it came to vertebrates, the researchers tested the venom on mice. They found that certain peptides in the venom caused the mice to exhibit pain-related behaviors, such as licking, flinching or shaking the injected paw. However, the Do6a peptide, which was so potent in insects, had no noticeable effect on the mice, highlighting the venom’s species-specific adaptations. ”Exploring how velvet ant venom affects different species provides valuable insights into pain pathways, with potential implications for advancing medical research” said Luana de Assis Ferreira. “For instance, the study highlights how specific ion channels are involved in triggering pain. Such knowledge might one day help scientists develop new painkillers or treatments for chronic pain by targeting similar pathways in humans.” While velvet ant’s venom is a marvel of evolutionary engineering, the broader implications are equally compelling. “This study provides a framework for exploring how other animal venoms work, especially those that target pain pathways. Venoms are a treasure trove of bioactive compounds, and studying them often leads to breakthroughs in pharmacology and medicine”, said Andrea Hohmann. “This research offers a deeper appreciation of nature’s complexity and the power of natural selection, in that the velvet ant’s sting is a carefully honed defense mechanism that ensures its survival in a dangerous world filled with potential predators, said Tracey. “And with these findings, we’re one step closer to understanding, and maybe even harnessing, its power.” To read the original article click here.

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Discover the Science-Backed Benefits of Grounding and 4 Simple Ways to Start Your Practice

AHA Publisher — Wed, 02 Feb 2022 08:00:23 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – There was a time when humans were one with nature. We spent time outdoors, lived off the land, and played in the grass, under the broad, blue sky, running barefoot. But technology has steadily moved into our lives, removing us from the earth that once nourished us. Life is supposedly easier, but is it really? We go to the grocery store instead of growing our own food. We flip a light switch instead of kindling a fire. We stay at home and access the internet instead of going to the library and searching for real books we can hold in our hands. Yes, life is easier, but what have we lost? Henry David Thoreau asked the same question, and today we are even farther removed from nature. Grounding – also known as earthing – just might be the answer. What Exactly Is Grounding? In one sense, grounding means a return to basics. In another, it is the exposure to nature – the practice of making direct contact with bare feet or hands to the earth’s surface. Of course, a grounding system can also be used, but purists tend to favor the skin-to-earth contact that traditional earthing is known for. What is truly remarkable about the practice of grounding is that its benefits have been touted by people worldwide. It is a global practice recognized all over the world for its health benefits and the boost it gives to a person’s mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. What Does Science Say About Grounding? At this time, earthing is a very under-researched practice. The valid, substantive scientific studies on the benefits of grounding are somewhat sparse, but the research that is out there is mostly positive and shows it as a viable solution to support heart health, relieve chronic pain, reduce inflammation, ease muscle aches, and stabilize mood. A 2015 study by James L Oschman, Gaétan Chevalier, and Richard Brown found that earthing has an immediate and direct effect on the living matrix that is the central connector for living cells. The electrical conductivity is an integral part of the matrix and functions as a defense mechanism for the immune system, much like antioxidants do. The researchers conclude that grounding restores the body’s natural defenses. Another study published in 2013 explored the connection between heart health and grounding. Ten healthy participants used patches on the soles of their feet and palms of their hands to the ground. The researchers took blood measurements before the participants grounded and after to see how red blood cell fluidity changed. This is an important factor in heart health. The results showed that after earthing, the participants had significantly fewer red blood cell clumping, which benefits cardiovascular health. There are many impressive health benefits of grounding, including: Decreased pain Improved sleep Decreased anxious feelings Improved cortisol rhythm Decreased sadness Reduced inflammation Improved wound healing Mood stability Increased heart rate variability Decreased stress response More efficient and effective relaxation Reduced blood viscosity Grounding’s whole body benefits make it an attractive drug-free approach to overall wellness. Here Is How to Start Benefiting From This Practice It is very easy to start grounding and begin reaping its many benefits. Go barefoot Take off your shoes and walk on the grass, in the mud, or the sand. Let your skin touch the natural surface of the ground to allow for maximum absorption of grounding energy. Lie on the ground Lying in the grass or on the sand – or anywhere that is a natural surface of the earth – can have remarkable regenerative properties. As long as your skin is making contact with the earth, you reap the benefits. Submerse in water Water is another good vehicle for grounding. As with natural physical earth, seek out a natural body of water like a lake, brook, or the ocean, and wade in it. Use grounding equipment If you cannot ground yourself by connecting with the natural earth, you have alternatives. One way to ground when direct grounding is not possible is to use a metal rod that reaches the natural ground outside and is connected to your body via a wire. If the rod and wire method is not possible, other types of equipment are available – including special socks, mats, bands, sheets, patches, and blankets – developed specifically for this practice. What makes grounding so attractive is that you can start right away without investing any money, purchasing any equipment, or joining a gym or group. Instead, you just walk outside and begin. If you do this, for at least 45 minutes or more, you will experience a positive effect immediately. Sources for this article include: EJ-Med.org GreenMedInfo.com NIH.gov NIH.gov TheMovementParadigm.com NIH.gov NIH.gov ESDJournal.com NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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