While people dealing with chronic back pain are often directed to physical therapy, research shows that psychological approaches that teach strategies to manage your experience of pain can help. So, would combining these approaches do more to ease the pain?
Worldwide, low back pain is a leading cause of disability. A recent systematic review of multiple studies suggests that it might.
Jone Mark
Worldwide, low back pain is a leading cause of disability and affects more than 560 million people. In the US, four in 10 people surveyed in 2019 had experienced low back pain within the past three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Science has proven that chronic, low-grade inflammation can turn into a silent killer that contributes to cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and other conditions. Get simple tips to fight inflammation and stay healthy — from Harvard Medical School experts.
The review revealed that physical therapy plus psychological approaches, such as pain education and cognitive behavioral therapy, more effectively improved chronic low back pain than physical therapy alone.
The study shows the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach to chronic low back pain. Integrating behavioral therapy and physical therapy helped people achieve better function, reduce the cycle of avoidant behavior, and reduce the intensity of their pain.
]]>But when the time comes for treatment, up to a third of men still decide against it. Now, a new study finds that for some of these men, treatment can be safely delayed.
80% of the men in the early-surgery group were still cancer-free three years later, compared to 87% of the men who put the surgery off for up to five years.
Jone Mark
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco identified 531 men whose cancers progressed while they were on active surveillance. All the men were diagnosed initially with Grade Group 1 prostate cancer, which is the bottom rung on a classification scheme that ranks cancers from low to high risk of aggressive spread.
When the researchers compared long-term outcomes among the men who got surgery within six months and those who waited longer for their operation, they found little difference between them. Forty-five men from both groups combined had their cancer return within three years after surgery.
Furthermore, prostate tissues observed by a pathologist immediately after surgery showed similar rates of adverse biological features that predict worse outcomes later. Tumors from about half the men from either group had this type of adverse pathology.
]]>However, there are no perfect tests for inflammation. And the best way to know if inflammation is present is to have routine medical care. Seeing a primary care physician, reviewing your medical history and any symptoms you have, having a physical examination, and having some basic medical tests are reasonable starting points. Such routine care does not typically include tests for inflammation.
By avoiding triggers of asthma, eczema, or allergic reactions you can reduce the burden of inflammation in your body.
Jone Mark
At first glance, treating unhealthy, chronic inflammation may seem simple: you take anti-inflammatory medications, right? Actually, there’s much more to it than that.
Anti-inflammatory medicines can be helpful to treat an inflammatory condition. And we have numerous FDA-approved options that are widely available — many in inexpensive generic versions. What’s more, these medicines have been around for decades.
Similarly, among people with rheumatoid arthritis, anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen or steroids may be a short-term approach that helps ease symptoms, yet joint damage may progress unabated. Controlling the underlying condition with medicines like methotrexate or etanercept can protect the joints and eliminate the need for other anti-inflammatory drugs.
Medicines to reduce inflammation do not solve the problem, aren’t particularly effective, and may cause intolerable side effects. However, treatments available now can cure most cases of chronic hepatitis C. Once completed, there is no need for anti-inflammatory treatment.
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