Month: February 2023

What Role Does Sleep Play in Pain Management?

There is a direct link between quality of sleep and chronic pain. It can be very difficult for those dealing with chronic pain to fall asleep or, if they do, stay asleep. The pain they are feeling can have a massive impact on their quality and quantity of sleep. Then again, those who don’t manage to sleep very well might become more sensitive to their pain because they are tired. So, it makes sense that improved sleep could then play a role in managing chronic pain. 

Why Sleep is Important for Pain Management

Getting enough sleep is vital for everyone, but even more so for those with chronic pain. The reality is that if you don’t sleep well the night before, you are going to be in worse pain the next day. The better your sleep, the less pain you will feel and the less medication you are likely to Read the rest

Guns and Marijuana: When Ideologies Clash on the Political Stage

It has been said on more than one occasion that ‘politics makes strange bedfellows’. Nowhere in modern politics is the idea more evident than in the push to secure gun rights for cannabis users. Ideologies normally clash between gun rights supporters and their marijuana rights counterparts. But both are strangely willing to set ideologies aside in the pursuit of common goals.

It is a lot like the idea of the enemy of your enemy being your friend. People who would not normally get along find a way to unite in the fight against a common enemy. Yet in this particular case, it’s not clear who the common enemy is. Perhaps there is no common enemy. Maybe it’s about each group using the other’s ideology to pursue their own agendas.

Guns, Marijuana, and Federal Law

Marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. Thanks to the Gun Control Act Read the rest

Study Cannabis for Chronic Pain Leads to Fewer Prescription Meds

Is cannabis a reliable substitute for prescription pain medications when treating patients for chronic pain? Medical cannabis advocates have long said ‘yes’. There is a growing mountain of evidence suggesting they are correct, including  a recently released study from the New York Department of Health.

The New York data suggests that chronic pain patients are less likely to use prescription opioids when they are given access to medical cannabis to manage their pain. Knowing what we know about certain types of prescription painkillers, any data in support of replacing those medications with medical cannabis should not be ignored.

Cutting Opioids in Half

Researchers from the New York Department of Health analyzed patient data involving some 8,000 people enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program. They looked at patient use of prescription medications in relation to medical cannabis consumption and noted that daily opioid use was cut in half among chronic Read the rest

Functional neurological disorder refers to an abnormality in the functioning of the nervous system. Generally speaking, it is a dysfunction of how our brain receives information from the rest of the body. Sometimes, the functional neurological disorder can also be called conversion disorder. A variety of symptoms present in this type of disease include seizures, fatigue, and other problems.

 

Functional neurological disorders are usually examined with the help of MRI, EEG, and other scans. The necessary advances in medicine can help us better understand these disorders and, as a result, provide more effective care.

Main Causes and Risk Factors

Generally, there are no known causes of functional neurological disorders, but there are certain theories that can help shed light on potential risks. Generally, they depend on the symptoms and involve different mechanisms within the brain. As functional neurological disorders may appear after a physical or emotional trauma, stress, or

Read the rest
Back to top