ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Higher Functioning Endogenous Opioid System Predicts Better Treatment Response For Neuropathic Pain Treated With Topical NSAIDs

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:52 AM PST

Not only are neuropathic pain symptoms quite common in knee osteoarthritis, but scientists can predict who will respond to treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by assessing the nervous system's own capacity to regulate pain, new research suggests. Patients whose tests had indicated superior conditioned pain modulation (CPM) had less pain and fewer neuropathic symptoms.

Half of veterans prescribed medical opioids continue to use them chronically

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PST

Of nearly 1 million veterans who receive opioids to treat painful conditions, more than half continue to consume opioids chronically or beyond 90 days, new research says. A number of factors were associated with opioid discontinuation with the goal of understanding how abuse problems take hold in returning veterans.

Opioid regimens that deliver best pain control reflect assay findings of cytochrome defects

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PST

Most patients with multiple defects of the cytochrome P450 system, which is largely responsible for metabolizing opioids, naturally gravitated toward an opioid regimen primarily metabolized through the cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme or a non-cytochrome, metabolic pathway, a new study suggests.

Combined use of oxytocin and human chorionic gonadotropin in intractable pain patients

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PST

Two hormones credited with reducing pain and need for opioid analgesics when released naturally during pregnancy and childbirth worked similarly when administered simultaneously to patients with intractable pain, research shows.

Stem cell transplant shows 'landmark' promise for treatment of degenerative disc disease

Posted: 08 Mar 2014 06:48 AM PST

Stem cell transplant was viable and effective in halting or reversing degenerative disc disease of the spine, a meta-analysis of animal studies showed, in a development expected to open up research in humans. Recent developments in stem cell research have made it possible to assess its effect on intervertebral disc (IVD) height, researchers reported.

New NASA Van Allen Probes observations helping to improve space weather models

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 01:59 PM PST

Using data from NASA's Van Allen Probes, researchers have tested and improved a model to help forecast what's happening in the radiation environment of near-Earth space -- a place seething with fast-moving particles and a space weather system that varies in response to incoming energy and particles from the sun.

The dark side of fair play

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 01:59 PM PST

We often think of playing fair as an altru­istic behavior. We're sac­ri­ficing our own poten­tial gain to give others what they deserve. What could be more self­less than that? But new research sug­gests another, darker origin behind the kindly act of fairness. An expert in the evolution of spite has investigated possible explanations for fair behavior that hadn't been considered before.

Blue paint on Japanese bullet trains can inhibit bacterial growth

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 01:58 PM PST

Using an artificial protein that contains metal, researchers were able to inhibit the growth of a pathogenic bacterium prevalent in hospitals which cause diseases to humans and has a high resistance to antibiotics.

New study of proteins in space could yield better understanding, new drug development

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 11:30 AM PST

Innovative methods of drug discovery don't always take place in an academic laboratory. They may start there, but they can also happen in orbit aboard the International Space Station, as protein crystallization research is about to demonstrate once again.

Service is key to winery sales

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 11:30 AM PST

To buy, or not to buy? That is the question for the more than 5 million annual visitors to New York's wineries. Researchers found that customer service is the most important factor in boosting tasting room sales, but sensory descriptions of what flavors consumers might detect were a turn-off.