Tag Archives: Diagnosis

Alcohol intake and increased cancer risk in women

Naomi Allen at al. published an excellent study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) in the March 4th, 2009 issue. They followed almost 1.3 million women in Great Britain for 7.2 years looking for the incidence (new … Continue reading

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Interesting Article in the NYT Magazine

I just came a across a very interesting article in the New York Times Magazine titled: What’s wrong with Summer Stiers? It describes in detail the new NIH (National Institutes of Health) Undiagnosed Diseases Program. The focus is Summer Stiers, … Continue reading

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Doctor, should I have back (or neck) surgery?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions: Should I have surgery for my back (or neck) pain? There are many factors that have to be considered to give an informed answer. In some situations undergoing an operation is … Continue reading

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Addiction – The 900 lb gorilla of medical pain management!

This is one of the most commonly voiced concerns in pain management. A search at dictionary.com shows 7 different definitions from various references. The definition from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (c) 2006 states: “the state of being enslaved to … Continue reading

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Zygapophysial (Facet) Joint Pain

Many patients can understand and visualize low back and leg pain that is due to a disc prolapse (herniation or extrusion). It makes intuitively sense that if you have disc material mechanically pushing on a nerve root it would cause … Continue reading

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Good news for patients with spinal cord stimulators

One of the major concerns regarding spinal cord stimulator systems was the fact that all manufacturers of these devices (Medtronic, Advanced Bionics and ANS) explicitly stated that MRI studies must not be performed with these implanted devices. There was also … Continue reading

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