Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Queensland in Australia, have been studying how animal venoms and toxins affect the wasabi pain receptors in the body. The human body has lots of different nerve cell receptors and the ‘wasabi receptor’ is a specific receptor on pain nerve [...]
Outcome data and studies are constantly being looked at to try and improve the management and outcome of spinal trauma in high income countries like the UK. We know, for example, that the ‘time’ from injury to treatment is one of the key factors. You may have heard of the “golden hour”? The golden [...]
‘Spinal News International’ (September 2019) reports on a survey carried on 1000 US women (aged 35 - 60) conducted by S-I Bone to help them better understand public awareness of sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction as a major cause of low back pain. SIJ dysfunction is reported to account for 15 - 30% of all [...]
Recent research has shown that patients with sleep disorders, on average, make more visits to healthcare teams with back pain than patients who not have problems with sleep. Researchers in the USA studied 757 patients with low back pain attending self-management classes at a US military hospital. More than two thirds of the patients [...]
As some of you may know, and in fact may be a part of, the British Spine Registry (BSR) was set up a few years ago by the British Association of Spinal Surgeons. The purpose of the registry is to monitor all spinal procedures and collect data with the aim to improve patient safety [...]
The technology behind the treatment DiscGenics is a biotechnology company that is currently trying to develop an exciting, new, injectable treatment that aims to regenerate the invertebral discs in the spine with the aim of reducing pain and improve the function in patients who have degenerative (‘wear and tear’) disc disease in [...]
Disc replacements are frequently in the news and I am often asked about them. I thought I would mention them today as there was recently a discussion about them at IMAST 2019 (International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques), one of the big spinal conferences. Disc replacements have been around a long time and were [...]
A recent article in the Daily Mail reported that studies have shown that an antidepressant called Duloxetine may help reduce chronic low back pain and there have been several studies over the past few years looking at the role of duloxetine in pain management. In addition to treating depression, it is already licensed in [...]
Krithik Ramesh, a 16 year old boy from Colorado, USA has just won first prize (and $75,000) at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with a spinal surgical navigational tool where more than 1,800 teens from 80 countries presented their inventions and projects. Krithik came up with the idea whilst trying to improve his [...]
Last week I gave a one hour interactive lecture to a great group of people at the BMI Harbour Hospital. My audience were members of the public who all asked excellent questions resulting in a lively event discussing spinal anatomy, spinal conditions and potential treatments. I really enjoyed meeting everyone but I also found [...]
