Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Associations Among Sleep Latency, Subjective Pain, and Thermal Pain Sensitivity in Gynecologic Cancer.
Pain is common among women with gynecologic cancer and contributes to depressed mood, sleep disturbances, and likelihood of future chronic pain. Little is known about how psychosocial factors are associated with central sensitization of pain in gynecologic cancer. This study examined relations among depressive symptoms, sleep, subjective pain, and aftersensation pain (a proxy for central sensitization of pain) in gynecologic cancer. ⋯ Controlling for recent chemotherapy, history of chronic pain, and analgesic medication use, regression analyses revealed that longer sleep onset latency (SOL; B = 3.112, P = 0.039, bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.371 to 6.014) and greater sensory pain (B = 0.695, P = 0.023, BCa 95% CI = 0.085 to 1.210) were associated with greater aftersensation pain at 15 seconds. Greater sensory pain scores were associated with greater aftersensation pain at 30 seconds (B = 0.286, P = 0.045, BCa 95% CI = 0.008 to 0.513). Depression was not associated with aftersensation pain. The overall models accounted for 44.5% and 40.4% of the variance in aftersensation pain at 15 and 30 seconds, respectively. Conclusions. Longer SOL and higher subjective sensory pain were related to greater aftersensation of experimentally induced pain in women postsurgery for gynecologic cancers. Interventions that improve sleep and subjective sensory pain during the perisurgical period may reduce risk for central sensitization of pain.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effect of Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets on Pain in Individuals with Knee Osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most prominent form of arthritis, affecting approximately 15% of the population in the United States. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) has become one of the leading causes of disability in older adults. Besides knee replacement, there are no curative treatments for KOA, so persistent pain is commonly treated with opioids, acetaminophen, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, these drugs have many unpleasant side effects, so there is a need for alternative forms of pain management. We sought to test the efficacy of a dietary intervention to reduce KOA. ⋯ We present evidence suggesting that oxidative stress may be related to functional pain, and lowering it through our LCD intervention could provide relief from pain and be an opioid alternative.