| Antidepressants might be worthless for treating low back pain
"The prescription of antidepressants as a treatment for back pain remains controversial," Donna Urquhart, Ph.D., research fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and lead review author. The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic. Physicians commonly prescribe antidepressants for patients with low back pain to provide pain relief, aid in sleep and treat coexisting depression. Roger Chou, M.D., is the director of the American Pain Society's Clinical Practice Guideline Program, which recently published new practice guidelines for the management of low back pain in conjunction with the American College of Physicians.
Sleep apnoea operations more miss than hit
SURGERY for obstructive sleep apnoea is increasing even though it is still considered experimental and research shows it does not work for most patients, an Australian study has found. The operation had side effects such as a dry throat and voice changes, the study found. A review of 48 studies around the world showed 62 per cent of 21,346 patients reported persistent problems after surgery, including infrequent vomiting through the nose, which generally required corrective surgery, Adam Elshaug of the University of Adelaide, said yesterday. Up to 22 per cent regretted the surgery, Dr Elshaug said. The analysis by the university's discipline of public health department was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday. It cited a review of seven randomised trials in 2005, which concluded that surgery generally failed to alleviate symptoms.
December 2007 Archives
Britney Spears' New Year's Resolutions! From improving her parenting skills to going on a diet, find out how Britney Spears plans to transform herself in 2008.
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