The Pain FactorWritten by Louise Roach
The Pain Factor Last year I told an acquaintance that at age of 46, I had taken up running. The reply was, “Oh, that’s awfully hard on your knees.” At first I was taken aback. Yes, I knew if I didn’t stretch, warm-up or wear properly fitted shoes, I might experience pain or an injury. But person telling me this was overweight, had borderline high blood pressure, and never worked out. I wondered if this friend realized by living a sedentary lifestyle, odds of developing heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and some cancers had substantially increased. Not to mention that being overweight actually placed this person at a higher risk than me for developing knee pain from osteoarthritis and heel pain as a result of plantar fasciitis. I’m no spring chicken and sometimes my running resembles a dawdling old hen. But I do know it’s necessary to take precautions at any age to guard against injury when participating in physical activity such as running. Because truth is, sometimes pain happens. When it does, you can either use pain as an excuse or you can use it as a diagnostic tool to help improve and go forward with your performance. There are three classifications of pain. In simple terms, these can be described as following: Nociceptive Pain: felt after an injury to body tissues such as cuts, sprains, broken bones, bruising, surgery, and sometimes cancer. Most pain is of this type. Neuropathic Pain: resulting from an injury to nerves, spinal cord or brain, examples being Phantom Limb Pain and shingles – which affects nerve tissue. Psychogenic Pain: is related to a psychological disorder where type, intensity or proportion of pain experienced is greater than injury. Some chronic ailments may be related to this type of pain. Pain can also be defined as acute (an immediate response to an injury) or chronic (a pain lasting more than six weeks). The majority of injuries from physical activity fall into category of acute nociceptive pain. Although some overuse injuries such as Plantar Fasciitis or Runner’s Knee can become chronic if not properly treated or allowed enough time to heal. Most injuries to body tissues are minor and can be treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), such as ibuprofen, and ice therapy or R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression and elevation) to decrease pain. Cuts, bruises, strains, sprains, swelling and inflammation can generally be treated in this way. Severe acute injuries, such as fractured bones and ruptured tendons, should always be treated by a medical professional, as is case with injuries resulting in chronic, neuropathic and psychogenic pain. If you experience minor pain or inflammation during an activity, this is a good time to evaluate what your body is saying and respond in a positive, strengthening manner. Try asking following questions: 1. What particular part of my body is affected? 2. Does pain happen only during a certain activity or is it constant? 3. Am I experiencing pain when running or walking on a certain type of terrain? 4. Is this a new pain or one that has happened before? 5. What measures can I take to correct or strengthen affected body area?
| | New Cancer Treatment Promises HopeWritten by C. Bailey-Lloyd/Lady Camelot
New Cancer Treatment Promises Hope by C. Bailey-LloydIntraperitoneal Hyperthermic Chemotherapy (IPHC) with Mitomycin C after Cytoreductive Surgery for Patients with Peritoneal Carcinomatosis - a long, technical term for modern medicine in fight against cancer. I had rare opportunity to speak with Dr. Perry Shen of Wake Forest University. As I listened, he explained how this groundbreaking treatment is extending lives of patients suffering from Peritoneal Carcinomatosis. *(Peritoneal membrane surrounds and lubricates surface of organs within abdomen; eg., colon, gallbladder, spleen, ovaries, intestines, liver, etc..) Because Advanced-stage Peritoneal carcinomatosis (cancer) and disseminated peritoneal lymphomas are often resistant to current chemotherapy treatment, medical researchers out of Wake Forest University have engaged in study and treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis since 1991. Dr. John Spratt first began describing using interdominal heated therapy in 1980, and found that this particular method worked well in conjunction with chemotherapy. By giving chemotherapy interdominally with much higher concentrated heat, (41 degrees Celcius - or around 105 degrees Fahrenheit) through tumor-removal surgery, heated medicine showed an increase in its effectiveness; thus, decreasing tumors. (1. Cytoreductive surgery consists of removal of all gross tumors and involved organs, peritoneum, or tissue deemed technically feasible and safe for patient. Any tumors adherent or invasive to vital structures that could not be removes were cytoreduces using cavitational ultrasonic surgical aspirator.) Overall survival rates were improved of 109 Patients (with peritoneal carcinomatosis) treated between December 1991 and November 1997. (2. Clinicopathologic factors that independently predicted improved overall survival rates.) A one-time treatment, IHPC lasts approximately 1-2 hours, but standardly, a 2-hour treatment is utilized by Wake Forest University. Initially, patients are cooled to a core temperature of approximately 34?C to 35?C. Once cooled, peritoneal perfusion inflow and outflow catheters are placed peroutaneously into abdominal cavity. With temperature probes acting as moderators, abdomen is gently massaged throughout perfusion to enhance drug distribution to all peritoneal areas. Because tumor tissue is more responsive to heat than normal tissue (due to intrinsic thermosensitivity) IHPC improves chemosensitivity of tumor cells to Mytomycin C(MMC). With an average life expectancy of 3-6 months after diagnosis of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis, patients are gaining new hope as IHPC treatment is extending life by as much as 15 months; and a few selected patients' lives have even been extended to 28-30 months.
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