Life Story With Neuropathy

Today's post is a personal account of life with neuropathy from neuropathyawareness.blogspot.com/2011/11/living-life-with-peripheral-neuropathy (see link below). I am sure that many people will identify with many of the experiences described here and may wish to join the 'Support for Neuropathy' group highlighted on the original page.

Living Life with Peripheral Neuropathy
Monday November 7th 2011

Living life with peripheral neuropathy has been a challenge for sure! I never would of thought that my life would revolve around being in chronic pain 24/7. One day I was in great health and the next it was all taken away from me in Jan 2001. Before all this I had never heard of peripheral neuropathy so when I was told that this was my diagnosis and it was permanent with no cure I just about lost it! I remember thinking how can no cure be available and no specific medicine for neuropathy be available. When my neuropathy symptoms first started it came on strong and on a pain scale the pain was a 10 and still is, but controlled with medications/narcotics. So now my life also revolves around being on heavy narcotics and this is someone who never took anything besides a asprin before all this! Even with being on heavy narcotics I still have pain and some days are very bad! I take medicine that is given to cancer patients and still can't get pain control on some days. That is just crazy to me and something has to be changed! We need help spreading the word about PN so a cure can be found. No one should have to live there life in chronic pain! No one can understand what its like to live like this unless they have it personally. It takes over your mind and controls everything you do from spending time with family or friends. It follows you everywhere and is always a constant reminder that you have PN. As bad as my life can be with having PN I have found its the little things that can make me happy. Little things like the smell of a flower or watching a new flower grow, enjoying my morning coffee, my fragrant candles, a new recipe etc and best of all being a great mom! I have had time over the years to accept this is the new me and its how it is. Of course I have days that I get depressed, but I try and think tomorrow will be a better day! I'm so glad to have the support from the group called Support for Neuropathy that I joined on facebook. For about 9 out of the 11 years of having PN I had no support and it was very lonely. I have meet many caring and awesome friends in my support group and I'm very thankful to have them all!!

Written by Michelle Cornell Monroe, Support for Neuropathy member

http://neuropathyawareness.blogspot.com/2011/11/living-life-with-peripheral-neuropathy.html

Sciatica treatment with acupressure

Sciatica treatment with acupressure is a movement with modern preferred subject material, can easily from researching for the online search engine every single child provide exact data many of us try out find photographs linked to the particular Sciatica treatment with acupressure . plus the benefits you will see down below you should be aware many of the photographs is merely a great representation.

Foto Results Sciatica treatment with acupressure

Sciatica treatment with acupressure - it has recently been published with the expectation whereby we will stimulate useful to you actually. This short article may function like a research for all those confounded to find the most suitable help The Sciatica treatment with acupressure posts may be your best option to be applied to the work plan, mainly because it features a prepare will certainly experience additional fulfilled Sciatica treatment with acupressure - Extremely helpful for yourself consequently all of us want to discover an honest supplier which often will let you acquire determination while not frustration. keep away from towards discover these pages, due to the fact possibly 1 day you will require that again seeing that ones inspirational thoughts.

Nursing Care of Individuals with Sciatica

By now we're pretty familiar with the in's and out's of sciatica.  If you're caring for a loved one who's suffering from sciatica I've made a handy table listing the types of interventions available.  Pharmaceutical treatments will have to be approved by a licensed healthcare provider.  However non-pharmaceutical treatments can be done at your own discretion and can be as equally helpful in soothing symptoms.

(Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, & Bucher, 2014)

This website is from the UK but provides a more detailed listing of treatments available.  It covers the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions listed here and some more.  Give it a read!


This video gives you 3 exercises you can do with your patient at home with a chair or table!

This video is an example of a discussion between a person with sciatica and a health provider.  They go through some exercises that examines how sciatica affects this individual.  Good watch for any person working at an in-patient clinic!

References

 Lewis, S., Dirksen, S., Heitkemper, M., & Bucher, L. (2014). Musculoskeletal Problems. In Medical-Surgical Nursing (9th ed., Vol. 2, p. 1548). Elsevier.  

MAKING OLD LUNGS LOOK YOUNG AGAIN WITH IBUPROFEN

New research shows that the lungs become more inflammatory with age and that ibuprofen can lower that inflammation

In fact, immune cells from old mouse lungs fought tuberculosis bacteria as effectively as cells from young mice after lung inflammation was reduced by ibuprofen. The ibuprofen had no effect on the immune response to TB in young mice.

This was a rare look at inflammation in the aging lung environment by Ohio State University scientists who study the immune response to TB. The researchers already knew that old mice had a harder time clearing TB from the lungs than young mice, but had not investigated the role of lung inflammation in that response.

"Very few researchers have linked inflammation to infectious disease in old age, even though TB in particular will drive that inflammation even further," said Joanne Turner, associate professor of microbial infection and immunity at Ohio State and senior author of the study.

"The inflammation-associated changes that we saw in the lung were a small finding, but an important finding because the implications are great," Turner said. "We should be able to modify the environment in the lung. If we can reverse the inflammatory environment in a very straightforward way, that is a positive."

The research is published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

Most previous research establishing inflammation's links to aging and disease has tested blood for elevated proteins that signal an inflammatory environment. These researchers found the same proteins in the lungs of old mice. Research has already established that the inevitable inflammation that comes with aging is linked to such conditions as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Though this line of work might someday support the use of ibuprofen as an adjunct therapy for elderly people with TB, Turner emphasized that she and colleagues are not recommending use of the drug for the purposes of lowering inflammation.

"You can actually reduce your inflammation as you age by being lean, eating well and exercising. And we know that in the elderly, people who are fitter live longer," she said. "Inflammation is associated with sickness and frailty."

Though the research was conducted in mice, Turner co-led a previous study indicating that both mouse and human lungs develop the same profile of pro-inflammatory proteins and fatty molecules with age, creating an environment that impairs the immune response to infection.

More than 9 million people worldwide are estimated to have active TB infections, and about 1.4 million people die of tuberculosis each year. "The elderly are most likely to die of TB. They get sicker. They're not the biggest population that gets infected with TB, but they can develop the worst cases," said Turner, also an associate director of Ohio State's Center for Microbial Interface Biology (CMIB).

In this new study, the researchers compared lung cells from old and young mice and found that in the old mice, genes that make three classic pro-inflammatory proteins, called cytokines, were more active in the lungs of old mice. The cytokines are interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). In addition, immune system cells called macrophages in the lungs from old mice were in an advanced state of readiness to fight an infection -- a status that signals inflammation. Macrophages in young mouse lungs were in a normal, resting state.

In test tubes, the scientists exposed mouse lung macrophages to TB bacteria. The macrophages from old mouse lungs were quicker to absorb the bacteria than were immune cells from young mice, but that initial robust immune response from the cells of old mice could not be sustained.

"A primed macrophage in an old mouse has lots of receptors on its surface that can bind to TB, taking it up and trying to kill it. But what it lacks is the ability to increase the response further," Turner said. "A resting macrophage in a young mouse takes up TB and then can be activated to do something even more effective at killing the bacteria."

Though some elements of the elderly response to TB remain a mystery, this finding suggested that the inflammation in the lungs of elderly mice had the direct effect of reducing the long-term effectiveness of their immune response to TB infection, Turner said.

Old mice in the study were 18 months old -- equivalent to about 65 in human years -- and young mice were 3 months old, a similar age to human young adults.

The researchers gave old and young mice ibuprofen in their food for two weeks and then examined their lung cells. After this diet modification, several pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lungs of old mice had been reduced to levels identical to those in the lungs of young mice, and the macrophages in old mouse lungs were no longer in a primed state.

"There's a trend toward reduced inflammation. Essentially, ibuprofen made the lungs of old mice look young. Putting young mice on ibuprofen had no effect because they had no lung inflammation, which implies the ibuprofen reduced the inflammation and changed the immune response in the old mice," Turner said.

"It might be that ibuprofen works on specific pathways to lower inflammation, and that might help with control of TB."

Turner and colleagues have extended the work to test whether ibuprofen affects the elderly mouse immune response to TB infection.

SAFER THAN SILVER ANTIBACTERIAL MATERIAL MADE WITH ALGAE

Consumers concerned about safety of silver ions in antibacterial and odor-free clothing will soon have a proven safe alternative thanks to ultra-thin thread and a substance found naturally in red algae.

The use of silver ions for antibacterial textiles has been a matter of hot debate worldwide. Sweden's national agency for chemical inspection is one authority which has ruled silver a health risk, citing possible damage to human genetic material, reproduction and embryonic development.

Mikael Hedenqvist, professor of polymer materials at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, says he and his colleagues, assistant professor Richard Olsson and doctoral student Rickard Andersson, have produced new antibacterial fibres that combine bio-compatible plastics with the antimicrobial compound, lanosol, which is commonly found in seaweeds of the family Rhodophyta, or red algae.

"The substance is a good alternative to particle-based antibacterials for clothing, as well as compresses or bandages," Hedenqvist says.

Using a process called electrospinning, they have succeeded in creating an ultra-thin thread, which means fabrics can have more contact between the antibacterial fibre and the surrounding area.

"Electrospinning produces quite thin thread, with a thickness on the order of one-hundreth of a human hair," Hedenqvist says. The result is more effective clean-up of bacteria.

The thread with the integrated antimicrobial compound (lanasol) does not clump up like fibres using silver or other antibacterial particles. It can be used in random network structures, such as in non-woven materials; or in a standardized fashion, where all the strands run in the same direction.

"The active substance is completely soluble and evenly distributed inside the thread," he says. "It forms no lumps or bumps that can occur when, for example, silver-based particles are used.

"That's good because these particles affect the thread's mechanical properties negatively."

Hedenqvist says material could one day be used in air filters or to dress fittings in hospitals, since the active antiseptic substance of red algae has been shown to kill 99.99 percent of bacteria type Staphylococcus aureus -- the most common cause of skin and wound infections in hospital environments.

"Hospitals are constantly striving to have as antiseptic environment as possible. But we're not there yet," he says.

How Do You Cope With Neuropathy

Today's post from cancerconnect.com (see link below) will go over old ground for some people but provide very useful information for others. It talks about neuropathy from a cancer patient's point of view but whatever the cause of your neuropathy, you may recognize much of what is described. The description is well written and goes on to discuss why neuropathy happens and what some of the common treatments are. Personal accounts are always useful because they can reassure you that you're not alone in dealing with this disease and show you how others are coping.

Coping with Peripheral Neuropathy

By Eleanor Mayfield

It began with numbness and tingling in her feet. The numbness made it difficult for her to maintain her balance, especially in the dark. Gradually, the discomfort worsened. Sometimes she had sharp, burning pains in her feet. “Sometimes it would feel like I was walking on rocks.”

What Jacqueline Cohen, PhD, is describing are some of the classic symptoms of peripheral neuropathy (PN). Dr. Cohen, a 64-year-old professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a four-year survivor of chronic myeloid leukemia, has developed PN as a side effect of Gleevec® (imatinib mesylate), the drug she takes daily to keep her cancer in check.

Dr. Cohen is one of thousands of cancer patients and survivors across the country who are coping with PN, a side effect associated with many chemotherapy drugs.

What is peripheral neuropathy?

Neuropathy means “disease of the nerves.” The brain and the spinal cord make up the central nervous system. The peripheral nerves are those that branch out from the spinal cord into the trunk and the extremities (arms and legs).

“The peripheral nervous system is like the body’s electrical wiring,” says Tina Tockarshewsky, executive director of the Neuropathy Association, a New York–based national voluntary organization serving patients with neuropathy resulting from cancer treatment or other causes. “When the peripheral nerves are damaged, the electrical system goes haywire. Sometimes there are sparks, and sometimes the lights go out.”

Pain and numbness, particularly in the hands and feet, are hallmark symptoms of PN. The condition can also cause a wide variety of other symptoms, depending on which nerves are damaged.

These symptoms may begin during or after cancer treatment. They tend to worsen over time, and they may persist for a year or more after treatment is completed. For many patients, damaged nerves do eventually heal and symptoms clear up. For others, however, the nerve damage—and the symptoms—may be permanent.

How is peripheral neuropathy treated?

No medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat PN related to cancer treatment. Doctors may prescribe anti seizure medications or antidepressants to treat painful neuropathy in cancer patients, says Frank S. Lieberman, MD, an associate professor of neurology and medical oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Dr. Lieberman recently prescribed Lyrica®(pregabalin), an anti seizure drug, to Jacqueline Cohen, who says the medication has helped relieve the pain in her feet.

Other treatments that patients with painful neuropathy may find helpful, says Dr. Lieberman, include anesthetic skin patches, opioid pain relievers, acupuncture, and transcutaneous nerve stimulation (a procedure in which low-voltage electric current is passed through electrodes adhered to the skin).

Arthur D. Forman, MD, an associate professor of neuro-oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says he recommends to his patients supplements of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), an antioxidant. In people with PN symptoms caused by diabetes, some studies have shown that ALA may provide relief. A study is currently under way to test its effectiveness in patients with PN caused by cancer treatment. Other supplements whose effectiveness is being studied are vitamins B6 and B12 and acetyl L carnitine.

Dr. Forman advises against using supplements called “growth factors” that may be marketed as promoting nerve healing. “Nerves need time to heal,” he says. “Trying to make them heal quickly may do more harm than good.”

Patients should know, Dr. Forman adds, that even as damaged nerves begin to heal, PN symptoms may continue to worsen for a while because the new nerve cells are “irritable.”

Can peripheral neuropathy be avoided?

Doctors can adjust the way chemotherapy is delivered to minimize or reduce the risk of PN, says Dr. Lieberman. For example, smaller, more frequent doses of chemotherapy may result in less PN than larger, less frequent doses. Taking a time out from chemotherapy—that is, stopping treatment for a while and then restarting it—may also help reduce PN.

What can patients do to cope with the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy?

Understanding what causes PN symptoms can reduce feelings of fear and panic and help patients feel more in control, says Dr. Forman. In addition, some simple lifestyle changes can help patients deal with its effects on daily life.
Use a night-light to reduce the risk of stumbling in the dark.
Install grab bars in the shower or sit on a stool while showering.
Sleep with the head elevated 30 degrees to reduce dizziness on rising.
Use specially designed utensils to make it easier to eat with numb fingers.

Tips from a Patient

Audrey Youngelson hasn’t let either metastatic breast cancer or peripheral neuropathy slow her down. “I have cancer,” Audrey says, “but cancer doesn’t have me.” The 72-year-old travel agent from New City, New York, recently returned from a trip to Egypt, where she toured the pyramids on a motorized folding scooter.

“It doesn’t matter where I am—I have neuropathy,” she says. “So why not enjoy life as much as I can?”

Audrey developed PN symptoms after being treated for breast cancer with surgery and radiation therapy in 1985. Whether her treatment caused the neuropathy has never been clear—officially, it is considered idiopathic, or of unknown cause.

She offers this advice to other cancer patients affected by PN:
Talk to your healthcare providers about your neuropathy symptoms. Be assertive in asking to be referred to a neurologist who is an expert in PN.
Keep trying treatments until you find one that works for you.
Make use of adaptations and assistive devices to help you function. Unable to operate a car’s foot pedals because of painful neuropathy in her feet, Audrey drives a car equipped with hand controls.
Don’t hesitate to ask others for help when you need it.
Join a support group where you can share your experiences and learn from others coping with the same condition.

Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy

Depending on which nerves are damaged, symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may include the following:

Blurred vision
Constipation
Cramping, pain, or weakness of muscles
Decreased sensitivity to heat or cold
Difficulty with fine motor tasks (such as buttoning, picking up small objects, and turning pages)
Difficulty passing urine
Dizziness, loss of balance, stumbling, or tripping when walking
Hearing loss or ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Increased sensitivity to pain
Loss of feeling (numbness) in the extremities (fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, and legs)
Loss of sensitivity to heat and cold
Muscle cramping, pain, or weakness
Painful, electric shock–like sensations in the spine
Tingling or burning sensations in the extremities (“pins and needles”)

Medications That May Be Prescribed to Treat Painful Neuropathy

Antidepressants Aventyl,® Pamelor® (nortriptyline)

Cymbalta® (duloxetine)

Effexor® (venlafaxine)

Elavil® (amitriptyline)

Antiseizure medications Lyrica® (pregabalin)

Neurontin® (gabapentin)

Tegretol® (carbamazepine)
Local anesthetics Lidoderm® (lidocaine patch)
Opioid analgesics Kadian® (morphine extended release)

OxyContin® (oxycodone extended release)

Percocet® (oxycodone/acetaminophen)

Ultram® (tramadol)

A Resource for Patients
Neuropathy Association

The Neuropathy Association is a nonprofit organization providing patient education and support, volunteer-led support groups, and advocacy for patients with neuropathy.

www.neuropathy.org

http://news.cancerconnect.com/coping-with-peripheral-neuropathy/

SOME RICE BASED FOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH CELIAC DISEASE CONTAIN RELEVANT AMOUNT OF ARSENIC

Rice is one of the few cereal grains consumed by people with celiac disease, as it does not contain gluten. However, it can have high concentrations of a toxic substance -- arsenic -- as revealed by the analyses of flour, cakes, bread, pasta and other foods made with rice, conducted by researchers from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain. The European Union is working to establish the maximum quantities of arsenic in these products.

Celiac disease affects almost 1% of the population of the western world, a group which cannot tolerate gluten and is thus obliged to consume products without it, such as rice. But this grain, depending on its origin, can also contain worrying levels of arsenic, a toxic and carcinogenic substance.

For the majority of consumers this does not pose any problem because they do not eat much rice every day, but this is not the case for celiac disease sufferers. Researchers from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) have analysed the presence of arsenic in flour, bread, sweets, pastas, beers and milk made with rice and intended for this particular group of the population.

The results of the analyses, presented in the journal 'Food Additives & Contaminants', warn that some of these products contain "important contents" of total arsenic (As-t, up to 120 µg/kg) and inorganic arsenic (As-i, up to 85.8 µg/kg). Total arsenic is the sum of the organic arsenic, which is combined with carbon, and inorganic arsenic, which reacts with other elements such as oxygen, chlorine and sulphur, and is more harmful.

With these figures the As-t and As-i contents only of rice used as a main ingredient -- leaving aside the other components of the food products -- were estimated and were found to be as high as 235 and 198 µg/kg, respectively..

Moreover, the daily intake of inorganic arsenic by celiac disease sufferers -- a consequence of their consumption of rice products -- was calculated as between 0.45 and 0.46 µg/kg (micrograms per kilogram of body weight) for women and men weighing 58 and 75 kg respectively. And, in the case of children (up to the age of five), these figures are even higher, ranging between 0.61 and 0.78 µg/kg, according to another study published in the 'Journal of Food Science'.

A panel of experts from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of the EU established in 2009 that there is evidence to suggest that an intake range of 0.3 -- 8.0 µg/kg of body weight per day entails a risk of developing lung, skin or bladder cancer. The estimated intakes in the two studies therefore vary within this range.

As Ángel Carbonell, co-author of the studies, explains: "These figures show that we cannot exclude a risk to the health of people who consume these kinds of products," although he recognises an important point: "The European Union has not yet established legal limits for the maximum content of arsenic in rice and rice-based foods, though it is currently working on this."

Lack of legislation

The researchers' recommendation is clear: "What is needed is for health agencies to legislate to limit the levels of arsenic that cannot be exceeded in rice-based foods intended for consumers who suffer from celiac disease." Until now, celiac disease was diagnosed predominantly in children, but in recent years the profile has changed and one in every five people with the disease is over 65 years old.

Currently, every EU country is taking samples of these products, analysing them and conveying the results to the EFSA to draw up a database broad enough to be able to make decisions. The Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) has recently sent the Spanish report, put together in collaboration with the researchers responsible for this study..

Another important recommendation they make is to include quality information on labels: "The inorganic arsenic content in every food product should be indicated, and the variety of rice used and its provenance should be identified clearly, because some are more recommended than others," affirms Sandra Munera, one of the authors.

Arsenic is naturally present in Earth's crust, but in some regions its abundance is greater than in others, and its concentration also increases with the use of pesticides. The substance then spreads through water to rice, one of the few plants that is cultivated when flooded.

One of the 'cleanest' types of rice is from the Doñana National Park, as the use of pesticides has not been permitted here and arsenic is not naturally present in large quantities. On the other hand, in countries like India and Bangladesh, where waters are contaminated with inorganic arsenic and rice constitutes a staple food for the population, the result is currently one of the largest mass poisonings in history.

DELAY IN AGE OF WALKING CAN HERALD MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY IN BOYS WITH COGNITIVE DELAYS

The timing of a toddler's first steps is an important developmental milestone, but a slight delay in walking is typically not a cause of concern by itself.

Now a duo of Johns Hopkins researchers has found that when walking and cognitive delays occur in concert, the combination could comprise the earliest of signals heralding a rare but devastating disorder known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

The study, published ahead of print in The Journal of Pediatrics and conducted by a medical student and a pediatric neurologist, reveals that delays in the onset of walking -- which should occur between 9 and 16 months of age -- are common among boys with DMD and often happen alongside cognitive delays. That combination, the investigators say, can give pediatricians a critical early diagnostic clue and tip them off to the presence of DMD.

"Our review of patient records shows that delayed walking along with cognitive delays represents an ominous combination that should prompt pediatricians to conduct further testing and could speed up diagnosis and treatment," says Kara Mirski, a fourth-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Earlier diagnosis means that we can start treating these kids sooner and greatly improve their long-term outcomes."

DMD is caused by a defective muscle protein. It is marked by progressive loss of muscle strength and function and, eventually, inability to walk at all. In its advanced forms, the condition can also compromise the function of the heart and breathing muscles. DMD, which almost exclusively affects males, is estimated to occur in one out of 3,500 boys.

Current guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society do not include DMD on the suspected diagnoses list for boys with developmental delays. While neither cognitive delays nor delayed walking by themselves are necessarily caused by DMD, when the two occur in tandem they should raise the index of suspicion and seriously narrow the range of diagnostic possibilities, the team says.

"The bottom line is that any delay in walking should lead to further probing, or at least vigilant monitoring, and when late walking occurs in the context of other developmental delays, it should put DMD on every pediatrician's radar as a possible cause," says study author Tom Crawford, M.D., a pediatric neurologist and muscular dystrophy expert at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Once a physician suspects DMD, a child can be screened further with a cheap and widely available test that measures the blood levels of creatinine kinase (CK), a protein released as a result of muscle damage or muscle cell death. Normal CK levels rule out DMD.

Once diagnosis is made, treatment with steroids and physical therapy can halt or slow muscle damage and help preserve mobility and function, the researchers say. In addition, because most cases of DMD are inherited, earlier diagnosis would allow families to consult a genetic counselor who can help them make informed decisions about subsequent pregnancies.

DMD can be easily missed during the infant and toddler years, even among children with developmental delays, Crawford notes. The condition's characteristic muscle weakness does not present at such an early age, and the absence of the disease's defining symptom can easily throw off pediatricians. This is why, Crawford says, any developmental delay should prompt pediatricians to probe deeper.

In addition, while most cases of DMD stem from inherited genetic defects, some genetic mutations can arise spontaneously in families without history of the disorder. In those cases, diagnosis can be delayed even further, until a child is 5 or 6 years old, the researchers say.

For the study, the investigators examined the clinical records of 107 children with DMD referred to the Johns Hopkins Children's Center between 1989 and 2012 for diagnosis or treatment. Nearly half (42 percent) had a history of delayed walking (age 16 months or later). Toddlers who started walking late were three times as likely to have cognitive delays as those who began walking on time. The link between the time of a child's first steps and cognitive delay persisted even when investigators eliminated other factors such as the speed and severity of muscle degeneration or age of diagnosis. The study also revealed that DMD patients who started walking late were not referred for diagnostic work-up any earlier than their counterparts who started walking at what is deemed a typical age. In other words, delayed walking did not emerge as the red flag it should have been, the investigators say.

CONTROLLING GENES WITH YOUR THOUGHTS

It  sounds like something from the scene in Star Wars where Master Yoda instructs the young Luke Skywalker to use the force to release his stricken X-Wing from the swamp: Marc Folcher and other researchers from the group led by Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems (D-BSSE) in Basel, have developed a novel gene regulation method that enables thought-specific brainwaves to control the conversion of genes into proteins -- called gene expression in technical terms.

"For the first time, we have been able to tap into human brainwaves, transfer them wirelessly to a gene network and regulate the expression of a gene depending on the type of thought. Being able to control gene expression via the power of thought is a dream that we've been chasing for over a decade," says Fussenegger.

A source of inspiration for the new thought-controlled gene regulation system was the game Mindflex, where the player wears a special headset with a sensor on the forehead that records brainwaves. The registered electroencephalogram (EEG) is then transferred into the playing environment. The EEG controls a fan that enables a small ball to be thought-guided through an obstacle course.

Wireless Transmission to Implant

The system, which the Basel-based bioengineers recently presented in the journalNature Communications, also makes use of an EEG headset. The recorded brainwaves are analysed and wirelessly transmitted via Bluetooth to a controller, which in turn controls a field generator that generates an electromagnetic field; this supplies an implant with an induction current.

A light then literally goes on in the implant: an integrated LED lamp that emits light in the near-infrared range turns on and illuminates a culture chamber containing genetically modified cells. When the near-infrared light illuminates the cells, they start to produce the desired protein.

Thoughts Control Protein Quantity

The implant was initially tested in cell cultures and mice, and controlled by the thoughts of various test subjects. The researchers used SEAP for the tests, an easy-to-detect human model protein which diffuses from the culture chamber of the implant into the mouse's bloodstream.

To regulate the quantity of released protein, the test subjects were categorised according to three states of mind: bio-feedback, meditation and concentration. Test subjects who played Minecraft on the computer, i.e. who were concentrating, induced average SEAP values in the bloodstream of the mice. When completely relaxed (meditation), the researchers recorded very high SEAP values in the test animals. For bio-feedback, the test subjects observed the LED light of the implant in the body of the mouse and were able to consciously switch the LED light on or off via the visual feedback. This in turn was reflected by the varying amounts of SEAP in the bloodstream of the mice.

New Light-sensitive Gene Construct

"Controlling genes in this way is completely new and is unique in its simplicity," explains Fussenegger. The light-sensitive optogenetic module that reacts to near-infrared light is a particular advancement. The light shines on a modified light-sensitive protein within the gene-modified cells and triggers an artificial signal cascade, resulting in the production of SEAP. Near-infrared light was used because it is generally not harmful to human cells, can penetrate deep into the tissue and enables the function of the implant to be visually tracked.

The system functions efficiently and effectively in the human-cell culture and human-mouse system. Fussenegger hopes that a thought-controlled implant could one day help to combat neurological diseases, such as chronic headaches, back pain and epilepsy, by detecting specific brainwaves at an early stage and triggering and controlling the creation of certain agents in the implant at exactly the right time.

MUTATION ASSOCIATED WITH CLEFT PALATE IDENTIFIED

Scientists studying birth defects in humans and purebred dogs have identified an association between cleft lip and cleft palate -- conditions that occur when the lip and mouth fail to form properly during pregnancy -- and a mutation in the ADAMTS20 gene. Their findings were presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego.

"These results have potential implications for both human and animal health, by improving our understanding of what causes these birth defects in both species," said Zena Wolf, BS, a graduate student at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

In both humans and dogs, cleft lip and cleft palate occur naturally with varying degrees of severity, and can be caused by various genetic and environmental factors. Since purebred dogs breed only with each other, there is less genetic variation to consider, making cleft lip and cleft palate easier to understand in these populations, Ms. Wolf explained.

From previous studies, the researchers knew that a mutation in the dog genes DLX5and DLX6, which are involved in face and skull development, explained 12 of 22 cases of cleft palate. However, a mutation in the corresponding human genes accounted for just one of 30 cases in the study sample.

To search for additional genes that may be involved, Ms. Wolf and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS), a study that compares the genomes of dogs with cleft lip and cleft palate to those of dogs without it. They found that the conditions were associated with a mutation in the gene ADAMTS20 that caused the protein it encodes to be shortened by 75 percent. Previous studies had shown that ADAMTS20 is involved in the development and shaping of the palate, but no specific mutations that occur in nature had been identified. A similar GWAS in people with cleft lip and cleft palate suggested that mutations in the human version of the ADAMTS20 gene may also increase the risk of these conditions.

"Cleft lip and cleft palate are complex conditions in people, and the canine model offers a simpler approach to study them," Ms. Wolf said. "Not only does this research help people, but it helps dogs, too," she added.

The study was conducted by scientists at the University of California, Davis, along with collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Iowa, and the University of Sydney.

Future directions include searching for additional genes that may be associated with cleft lip and cleft palate, and extending the research to other breeds of dogs, such as Labrador Retrievers and Whippets.

SPECIALIZED YOGA PROGRAM COULD HELP WOMEN WITH URINARY INCONTINENCE

An ancient form of meditation and exercise could help women who suffer from urinary incontinence, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.

In a study scheduled to be published on April 25, 2014 in Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery, the official journal of the American Urogynecologic Society, UCSF researchers discovered that a yoga training program, designed to improve pelvic health, can help women gain more control over their urination and avoid accidental urine leakage.

"Yoga is often directed at mindful awareness, increasing relaxation, and relieving anxiety and stress," said first author Alison Huang, MD, assistant professor in the UCSF School of Medicine. "For these reasons, yoga has been directed at a variety of other conditions -- metabolic syndrome or pain syndromes -- but there's also a reason to think that it could help for incontinence as well."

Huang and her colleagues recruited 20 women from the Bay Area who were 40 years and older and who suffered from urinary incontinence on a daily basis. Half were randomly assigned to take part in a six-week yoga therapy program and the other half were not. The women who took part in the yoga program experienced an overall 70 percent improvement -- or reduction -- in the frequency of their urine leakage compared to the baseline. The control group -- or the group that did not start yoga therapy -- only had 13 percent improvement. Most of the observed improvement in incontinence was in stress incontinence, or urine leakage brought on by activities that increase abdominal pressure such as coughing, sneezing, and bending over.

Huang and her colleagues believe that yoga can improve urinary incontinence through more than one mechanism. Because incontinence is associated with anxiety and depression, women suffering from incontinence may benefit from yoga's emphasis on mindful meditation and relaxation. But regular practice of yoga may also help women strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor that support the bladder and protect against incontinence.

"We thought this would be a good opportunity for women to use yoga to become more aware of and have more control over their pelvic floor muscles," Huang said.

Approximately 25 million adults in America suffer from some form of urinary incontinence, according to the National Association for Continence. Up to 80 percent of them are women. Urinary incontinence becomes more common as women age, although many younger women also suffer from it.

"We specifically developed a yoga therapy program that would be safe for older women, including women with minor mobility limitations," Huang said. "So we were partially assessing safety of this program for older women who are at highest risk for having incontinence in the first place."

Not all types of yoga may help with urinary incontinence. The yoga program used in the study was specially designed with input from yoga consultants Leslie Howard and Judith Hanson Lasater, who have experience teaching women to practice yoga in ways that will improve their pelvic health. Still Huang and her colleagues believe that many women in the community can be taught to preserve pelvic muscle strength and prevent incontinence.

"It would be a way for women to gain more control over their pelvic floor muscles without having to go through traditional costly and time-intensive rehabilitation therapy," Huang said.

Men were not included in this study because urinary incontinence in men is often related to problems related to the prostate, which may be less likely to improve with yoga. Huang and her colleagues hope to eventually build on this study and double the length of the study to 12 weeks.

MOTHERS OF KIDS WITH AUTISM TOOK LESS IRON

Mothers of children with autism are significantly less likely to report taking iron supplements before and during their pregnancies than the mothers of children who are developing normally, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found

Low iron intake was associated with a five-fold greater risk of autism in the child if the mother was 35 or older at the time of the child's birth or if she suffered from metabolic conditions such as obesity hypertension or diabetes.

The research is the first to examine the relationship between maternal iron intake and having a child with autism spectrum disorder, the authors said. The study, "Maternal intake of supplemental iron and risk for autism spectrum disorders," is published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"The association between lower maternal iron intake and increased ASD risk was strongest during breastfeeding, after adjustment for folic acid intake," said Rebecca J. Schmidt, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and a researcher affiliated with the MIND Institute.

The authors of the current study in 2011 were the first to report associations between supplemental folic acid and reduced risk for autism spectrum disorder, a finding later replicated in larger scale investigations.

"Further, the risk associated with low maternal iron intake was much greater when the mother was also older and had metabolic conditions during her pregnancy."

The study was conducted in mother-child pairs enrolled in the Northern California-based Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study between 2002 and 2009. The participants included mothers of children with autism and 346 mothers of children with typical development.

The researchers examined maternal iron intake among the study's participants, including vitamins, other nutritional supplements, and breakfast cereals during the three months prior to through the end of the women's pregnancies and breastfeeding. The mothers' daily iron intake was examined, including the frequency, dosages and the brands of supplements that they consumed.

"Iron deficiency, and its resultant anemia, is the most common nutrient deficiency, especially during pregnancy, affecting 40 to 50 percent of women and their infants," Schmidt said. "Iron is crucial to early brain development, contributing to neurotransmitter production, myelination and immune function. All three of these pathways have been associated with autism."

"Iron deficiency is pretty common, and even more common among women with metabolic conditions," Schmidt said. "However we want to be cautious and wait until this study has been replicated.

"In the meantime the takeaway message for women is do what your doctor recommends. Take vitamins throughout pregnancy, and take the recommended daily dosage. If there are side effects, talk to your doctor about how to address them."

Can Magnets Help with Neuropathic Pain

You would think not on the face of it but so many 'clinics' and private practitioners offer magnetic treatments for foot, leg and joint pain, you begin to wonder if they're onto something, or if it's a giant (and very lucrative) scam! This article from DiscoveryHealth.com, (see link below) takes an objective look at the subject and comes to the conclusion that more research is needed. Where have we heard that before? Yep, everywhere!

Magnet Therapy and Diabetic Neuropathy

by DiscoveryHealth.com writers

Magnets have used for centuries in China, India, and Egypt for their alleged healing powers. In the late 1800s, American advertisements offered magnetic belts and insoles as a cure for sleeplessness, hysteria, and indigestion. Such claims continue today, yet exactly how or if they work remains unknown.

One theory suggests that magnets can work with the body's own magnetism, similar to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure. An MRI scanner creates a strong magnetic field, which causes the atoms within body tissues to shift. Based on that premise, it would seem possible for therapeutic magnets to heal damaged nerves.

Some researchers believe the magnets increase blood flow, "nourishing" a painful area, helping it heal, while others say magnets "repolarize" nerve impulses, changing the perception of pain.

Whatever the reason, magnetic insoles, mattress pads, pillows, bracelets, Belts, and even hairbrushes are a $5 billion industry worldwide, thanks to consumers who swear by them as a safe, noninvasive therapy for all types of chronic pain from tendonitis to migraine headaches.

Mainstream medicine, however, isn't buying it. For every study that shows the potential benefits of using magnets, it seems there's another that shows none at all. One of the more compelling studies appeared in the American Journal of Pain Management in January 1999. In it, Dr. Michael Weintraub, a neurologist at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., studied the effects of magnets on diabetic and nondiabetic patients with chronic foot pain.

His results showed 90 percent of the diabetics found magnetic footpad insoles significantly reduced chronic foot pain. While the numbers look impressive, critics say the study was too small to mean much. Meanwhile, another study done at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Prescott, Ariz., published in the March 2000 Journal of the American Medical Association, found that adults with long-term back pain got absolutely no significant pain reduction from magnet therapy.

Despite the controversy, most experts agree the therapy warrants more research. In fact, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health believes the potential of magnetic healing worthwhile enough that it funded two ongoing studies on magnets and pain.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/tests-treatment/magnet-therapy-and-diabetic-neuropathy.htm

Arm Yourself With Facts About Neuropathy

Today's post from dressamed.com (see link below) is another why, what and how, article about neuropathy. You know there are now dozens of these articles here on this blog but every one is slightly different and every one has the potential to teach you something new about the nerve damage you're dealing with. I strongly advise looking through a few of these general articles about neuropathy (use the search button on the right of this blog) and by doing this you'll build up a much more reliable picture of what you're going through and learn so much more about neuropathy than a doctor can tell you in the time you have with them. This particular article is plainly written, easy to absorb and importantly factually correct, without bias. Not everything will apply to your particular case but that in itself is something you need to know about this complex and confusing condition. Take what you need to know and go to your next appointment armed with enough knowledge to save time in your discussions. Doctors love patients who have done their homework but hate those who have not done it properly and have found one piece of information that doesn't apply to them, while insisting it must be true. Dealing with neuropathy has to be a partnership to get the best results.

The 5 Whats and Hows of Peripheral Neuropathy 
Posted on May 11, 2016 Posted in Staff Pick by Staff Pick

What is peripheral neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is a term which describes the damage done to peripheral nerves. This damage can be caused by more than 100 different known diseases. If only one nerve is involved it is called a mononeuropathy an example of which is carpal tunnel syndrome. If 2 or more nerves are involved in separate areas it is called a multiple mononeuropathy. This is usually the type of neuropathy meant when people say they have a peripheral neuropathy. If a spinal nerve root is involved it is called a radiculopathy such as sciatica from a herniated disc. If there is diffused involvement of the peripheral nerves it is called a polyneuropathy.

What is damaged in peripheral neuropathies?

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy occur because the nerves are damaged in some way. This can occur at either the axon, which is “wire” from the nerve cell out to the body, or it can occur in the myelin sheath itself. The myelin sheath is like an insulator around the axon which acts to speed conduction of the nerve signal. For example, an axon with myelin connects like a broadband internet connection able to stream high definition video and an axon without myelin is like dial up service, slow with frequent interruptions. Myelin involvement often occurs in the setting of demyelinating diseases or some infections.

In addition to damaging the axon or myelin or both, peripheral neuropathy can also affect a variety of nerve types. Small nerves fibers are often damaged in diseases such as diabetes which leads to problems with pain, temperature, and sensation changes. Large nerve fibers are injured in such disease processes like Guillan-Barre syndrome which leads to profound muscle weakness. Nerve fibers that come directly from the brain, called cranial nerves, can also be injured by a variety of disease processes.

The type of symptoms you experience from peripheral neuropathy depend on the underlying cause and the type and location of the nerves damaged. For causes from metabolic disorders such as diabetes, the progession is usually slow and begins in the lower extremities. A change in sensation is often the first symptom people notice. This is worse at night. It progresses from there to involve decreases in the ability to sense temperature, vibration, and eventually leads to complete sensory loss. Oddly enough this is frequently accompanied by severe pain in the affected extremity which can be brought on by even minimal stimuli. At its ends stage, peripheral neuropathy can lead to skin breakdown, balance problems, and ultimately profound muscle weakness and wasting.
What are some of the definitions of medical terms used to describe peripheral neuropathy?

The follow is a list of common definitions:

Paresthesia: this is often described as numbness or tingling or the pins and needle type sensation.
Anesthesia: this is loss of all sensation, pain, temperature, touch. If you have this you could cut off your finger and not feel it at all.
Analgesia: this is loss of all painful sensation but you can still feel things such as touch and temperature.
Hyperesthesia: this is increased sensitivity to any kind of stimulus to the skin
Hypoesthesia: this is decreased sensitivity

How is peripheral neuropathy diagnosed?

The diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy includes an evaluation by a physician. This evaluation will include a history of your symptoms, a physical exam, and in some cases diagnostic testing.

The history of your symptoms will often lead to the diagnosis and can point to or pinpoint a cause. Important items will include when the symptoms started. Did they start suddenly or gradually or has it been a long slow process developing over an extended period of time. Is there just one episode or does it come and go. Other important factors include underlying medical disorders such as cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, dietary habits, trauma, employment exposures, and family history of a similar problem.

The physical exam helps to define the extent of the neuropathy and usually involves a head to toe evaluation with particular attention on the eye and neurologic portions of the exam. During this exam it is usually evident if you have a mononeuropathy or a polyneuropathy. After the history and physical exam diagnostic testing is often undertaken. There are three main classes of diagnostic tests used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment. These are laboratory studies, imaging studies, and nerve studies.

Laboratory studies will often include a complete blood count to look for signs of anemia, heavy metal poisoning, or cancer. Electrolytes, kidney function tests, and certain vitamin levels will often be checked to evaluated causes such as kidney failure, diabetes and other endocrine disorders, and nutritional deficiencies. In some cases screening tests for rare diseases such as porphyria or infections will also be done and at times may include a skin or nerve biopsy or a lumbar puncture (spinal tap).

Imaging studies may include but are not limited to CT scans and MRI of the affected area. MRI in particular can often tell, in the right context, if your symptoms are from nerve impingement or other structural disorder.

Finally, nerve conduction studies and electromyography(EMG) is often undertaken. In nerve conduction studies a probe is used to stimulate a nerve causing an electrical impulse to fire. The way in which this impulse is transmitted can often tell your doctor if it is the axon or the myelin that is damaged. With EMG electrical activity is measure with the muscle active and at rest. This can help distinguish between nerve and muscle injury.
What kind of treatments are available for peripheral neuropathy?

The approach to treating peripheral neuropathy can be broken down into three main areas.

First, correcting the underlying cause of the neuropathy is important. Peripheral nerves, to some extent can heal and regenerate, so if the cause is found early, and treatment is initiated then the disease process can be slowed, stopped, or sometimes even reversed. For example, while diabetes can cause peripheral neuropathy, early diagnosis with tight control of your blood sugar can prevent this complication from occurring and stop or even reverse it once it has started.

Second, it is important to create on optimal environment for healing within your body. This begins with adopting a healthy lifestyle. Sleep is essential for your body to heal itself and trying to get 8 hours of sleep a night is very important. Maintaining an optimal body weight through healthy diet and exercise is also necessary. Get rid of the junk that you eat focusing on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while limiting processed and high fat foods. This is usually enough to correct any underlying nutritional deficiencies but you may also want to consider taking a multivitamin. Finally, limit or eliminate alcohol and definitely stop tobacco in any of its forms. 

Third, it is important to control the symptoms. The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy can be very difficult to control. Initial pain control with over the counter analgesics such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen is sometimes helpful but rarely sufficient. If pain is severe and chronic a variety of medications may be tried but there are no definitive guidelines give lack of evidence strongly favoring one treatment over another.

Tricyclic antidepressants. These medications are older antidepressants largely replaced now by the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). An example is amitriptyline which has been shown to be of some benefit and is thought to work by affecting the way your nerves respond to pain. 

Antiepileptics. These are seizure medications such as phenytoin, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, lamictal, and topiramate. They have shown some benefit with the exception of topiramate. To some extent they work by blocking the ability of nerves to rapidly trigger and electrical response. 

Gabapentin. This drug is also a seizure medication but its mechanism of action is not definitively known. It is thought to help peripheral neuropathy by modulating pain signals in the the spinal cord. 

Tramadol: This is a pain medication which has been found to have some benefit beyond its ability to treat pain in helping with the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. 

Lidocaine patches: Known also as lidoderm patches these are applied directly to the site of pain and help in select cases. 

Capsaicin: A topical preparation shown to have some benefit.

Surgical intervention: In extreme cases sometimes the nerve itself will be destroyed. This often only helps the pain for a brief period of time as peripheral nerves have an astounding ability to regenerate. Unfortunately, symptoms ultimately wind up worse then before the procedure. 

What does the future hold?

As with any disease prevention is always better then treatment. There are multiple ongoing investigations into the different ways in which the nerves are damaged. As these processes are identified it is hoped that additional treatment will be found. Other research areas include looking at how the body responds to pain from neuropathy and creating or finding treatments that will block this process at either the brain or in the spinal cord.

About The Author

Dr. N. McMullin M.D. uses plant extracts, infused oils, and essential oils to make neuropathol solutions for relief from peripheral neuropathy symptoms.

Syndicated by EzineArticles

https://www.dressamed.com/root/the-5-whats-and-how-of-peripheral-neuropathy/

How To Cope With Neuropathic Pain

Today's excellent post from painandmentalhealth.com (see link below) gives advice as to how to manage your condition if you are suffering from chronic pain and as a result is extremely useful for people living with neuropathy. There's no doubt that chronic pain can lead to depressions and reduced quality of life but it may also depend on how you personally approach your illness. This article definitely helps put your discomfort into perspective and is not full of the usual platitudes and cliches. Worth a read.

Coping Toolkit - Pain And Mental health
PAIN AND MENTAL HEALTH : A resource for people suffering from physical pain, and the psychological distress that accompanies it. Thursday, July 3, 2014

Here are a few psychological and behavioral options for managing your pain. While many of the points below duplicate the content in the “Treatment Options” section, what is described below are meant to be “do it yourself” techniques that may be useful in addition to or in between contact with your interdisciplinary treatment team.

Improve Your Communication Skills

This could also be labeled assertiveness training or anger management. To tolerate or overcome chronic pain, you would do well to enhance the ability to state your needs – clearly, regularly, and without scaring off your support network. It may be useful to make a list of your concerns and complaints and bring this written list to read off to your physician, to aid in asserting your needs. Whereas with a caregiver you might have to talk about how you talk – and ask, “what can I do differently so that when I ask for your help, you don’t resent me for it?” You can ask those in your support network to help point out instances when your spoken message and your body language don’t match up – when you are sending mixed messages. However you approach this issue, it can feel like a fine line – being assertive without showing anger or aggression, but without presenting yourself as passive or helpless either. While the feedback may sting at first, just initiating this type of discussion can go a long way to getting your needs met (and your pain soothed).

Monitor Your Medications

You know your body and your pain better than any doctor, you are the expert – so pay attention to how long it takes for pain medications to kick in, what side effects your anti-inflammatory medication causes, or whether you have fears tied to the use of your sleep aids. That being said, you should not play doctor or pharmacist here – don’t think that regular visits to webmd.com or rxlist.com mean you can change your medication dosing around. Being informed about your medications is wise, but your concerns should be reported back to your doctor and, together, you can develop a better medication plan. But know this, you have to stick with the plan (or at least tell the doctor when you deviate) – if the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, that’s when trouble can arise.

Know Your Habits (and Limits)

It is important to know (and accept) your new physical limitations (though you certainly don’t have to like them.) To gain awareness of these limits, it can be helpful to keep a diary of sorts – to monitor your pain levels in relation to your activity, mood, diet, sleep, and stress levels (along with medication and pain treatments). By doing so, you may come to realize that certain activities or events are triggers for your pain, while others soothe the pain. Such patterns and habits may go unnoticed otherwise, because chronic pain sufferers often don’t feel the effects until some time after a trigger has occurred. The better you know how you and your body react to certain things, the easier it will be to prepare for negative triggers and seek out pain-relieving experiences.

Get Active (Exercise)
Obviously it is important to modify your desires to match your current abilities (and work within the limits set by your treatment team). Nonetheless, physical activity serves multiple purposes: a) improved physical health, b) improved sense of bodily control, c) recognition of sustained strengths and abilities, d) a sense of accomplishment, e) decreased sense of dependence, and f) development of comfort in moving the injured area. (This last point is important, as many pain patients develop an avoidant behavior pattern or begin “guarding” their injury, which in the long run has negative physical and mental effects.)

Take Back Control of Your Body

Take a few breaths deep into your stomach (diaphragm) at a slow and steady pace – you can be sure you are doing this correctly by placing a hand on your stomach and a hand on your chest, and try to make the stomach hand rise and fall more than the hand on your chest. By breathing in this manner you send your brain the message to relax. What follows is a rush of chemicals that act as natural antidepressants and pain alleviators. Combine this breathing with a release of muscle tension and a person can feel a greater sense of control of their body, and naturally reduce pain (somewhat).
There are a few ways to reduce muscle tension: a) Stretching (as you are able), b) Tensing and then relaxing muscles in groups across the body (first neck, then shoulders, and so on; this should be done only if it does not aggravate your pain), or c) Focusing the mind on muscle groups in succession and emphasizing a mental relaxation of the muscles (thinking to oneself “calm, relax” while focusing on the neck and so on).

Engages in Distraction and Pleasant Activity
 
The mind is very adept at focusing on pain, as any signal of injury is a cue to take care of oneself. However, when the pain is no longer a useful signal, the mind is also able to focus to less unpleasant sensations. This is why you rub your shin after you bang it against the bedpost in the middle of the night – the brain would rather you feel the sensation of the rubbing than the sensation of the pain, and so the pain doesn’t hurt quite so bad.

This technique doesn’t always have to involve a physical distraction from the pain (like rubbing your shin, or like the TENS unit or capsaicin cream your doctor may prescribe). Engaging your mind and emotions in a hobby, activity, social interaction, artistic endeavor or otherwise pleasant behavior allows your brain to focus on those sensations and signals, and tone down the pain (in a manner of speaking). However, the more mental energy you use in this behavior, the greater the benefits – simply watching television or having a boring conversation will not reduce the pain, and it may make it feel worse. But if your mind and your emotions are engaged, the pain signals become more like background noise.

Explore the Benefits of the Pain

While this may sound like a useless task, there are lessons to be learned by your experience. Patients note that giving meaning or reason to the pain makes it more bearable (even if that reason is that the pain is punishment for past evil deeds). Focusing on the positive aspects of a situation allows people coping with stress (physical or emotional) to overcome it more easily. (A great deal of research has been done in this area tied to trauma victims with some surprising results). So, what are the benefits, what have you learned? Have you become less stubbornly independent, gotten closer with a sibling, slowed your life down, or counted your blessings (due to your pain)? Have you learned that you are a stronger person than you ever realized (or wanted to be)? Answers to these questions will make the pain less frightening and more tolerable. Instead of simply ignoring or fighting against your pain, get to know it better, see what it tells you.

Use Imagery (Daydream)

Going to your happy place is more than just an expression – it is a useful psychological coping tool. Essentially, creating an elaborate daydream can aid you in escaping (momentarily) from your unpleasant physical sensations and allow your mind to explore more pleasant images. (This is similar to the idea of distraction discussed above.) Some key points here: a) Don’t expect that imagery will completely dull the pain, b) Incorporate a toned down version of your pain into your image (maybe if you have diabetic neuropathy in reality, in your image you may be ice skating and your feet feel hot/cold and achy but the experience is pleasant), c) Imagery should not be a lifestyle choice – it is a brief vacation, but denying reality is a bad way to go, and d) Lastly, details and senses are key – practice the same image or experience repeatedly and fill in the sights, smells, sensations and so on as elaborately as possible.

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

You brush your teeth and floss to maintain oral hygiene, but what do you do to manage your sleep hygiene? Most people don’t even think about this. But as a person dealing with pain you may notice that pain disturbs your sleep, and the more fatigued you are the worse the pain feels, and so on. So, improving your sleep will improve your pain and your ability to cope in general. Here are some tips for a better night’s rest:
The bed is a place for sleep and sex only – you don’t want your mind to associate any mentally stimulating activity (watching tv, reading, etc) with the bed.
No caffeine, nicotine, or excess alcohol (more than a glass) in the last few hours before your goal bedtime.
No physical exertion just before sleep, but do try to be as active as possible during the day to tire yourself out.
No naps (unless this is the only way to get any sleep, in which case, nap away but don’t be surprised that you’re awake at 3 am) – the body prefers 8 hours in a row and at night, but 6-8 hours daily, however you get it, is good.
Watch how your pain and medications affect your sleep – if you awake in pain, maybe the last pain pill of the evening should be taken later closer to bed, or perhaps you should set an alarm to wake at 4 am, take a pain pill, and get back to sleep. Also, consider how the side effects of your medications (sedation, discomfort, bowel distress, etc) will affect your sleep.
If you don’t fall asleep in the first 20 minutes being in bed, get up and do something else, and return to bed later when you are more tired. Lying awake in bed trying to sleep tends to be a futile task.

Vent Your Emotions

While talking to a professional is ideal, simply telling anyone how you are feeling relieves the mental and emotional burden. Expressing your feelings verbally actually has an impact on how you experience your pain. (An interesting study recently showed that yelling out “dirty” words improves patients’ pain experience.) It is understandable that there are days or situations where patients desire to feel “normal” and wish to avoid discussing their pain. However, over the long term there can be negative effects on the body and mind that arise from repressing your true feelings about a situation. So whether it is a professional or a friend, spouse, spiritual leader, or hairdresser – let your true feelings be known (from time to time).

Manage Your Stress Levels

While this is good advice for anyone, many pain patients have experienced the negative effect that psychological stress on their pain. Mental health professionals even have a special diagnosis that is used to denote whether a person’s pain is made worse by the stress in his/her life. The first step is recognizing what or who stresses you out – is it too many doctor appointments in one day, or interaction with the pharmacist? Do you notice that any discussion with your daughter raises your blood pressure (and your pain) or that an untidy living environment makes you clench your teeth?

Once you denote your triggers for stress you can begin to manage them by using: a) communication skills (such as assertiveness), b) time management, c) outsourcing or delegating of responsibility (asking for help), d) planning only one stressful activity per day, e) developing coping skills (for instance, read a magazine while in line at the pharmacy to avoid worrying about the wait time), or f) focus on the elements of your life you can control (to avoid feeling overwhelmed by things out of your control). There is no right way to manage stress – it is about finding the right tool for you. Try different techniques and discard the skills that are ineffective, but once you find something that works make it a regular part of your routine.

http://www.painandmentalhealth.com/index.php?pr=Coping_Toolkit