In a follow-up to an earler article discussed here, the National Pain Foundation recently published an interview with Dr. Schneider, MD, PhD, the previous article's author. In this newest article, she explains more fully the nature of addiction, tolerance and dependence. It is a topic that many physicians do not really understand. For those who care for those in chronic pain or those facing the end of life, this interview can help clear up a lot of questions.

Those of us who work with the chronically and terminally ill find ourselves constantly struggling to clarify confusion about pain medication. It is felt by many that opioids, such as morphine, should be avoided, at best, and are the crutches of druggies at worst. Enter this excellent article that describes four myths concerning the use of opioids.

Cancer Pain Release - The World Health Organization in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Pain Release features an interview with Alejandro Jadad, MD, DPhil, FRCPC addressing Pain management, e-learning and the Internet. It has very helpful information on the use of the internet and the practice of cancer pain management. Specifically, it addresses how the internet can benefit medical practice, barriers to the use of the internet in medical practice, and growing trends.

Seattle Times - In an exciting breakthrough, a new medication derived from sea-snail venom seems to provide relief up to 1,000 times stronger than that of morphine. The new medication, called Prialt, is more effective in treating types of pain that were formerly untreatable, such as neuropathic pain. Moreover, Prialt is regarded as non-narcotic. The chief impediment to the use of is that it must be injected into the spinal column.

(NationalPainFoundation.org) - A recent article by Debra K. Weiner, MD describes ten myths that relate to the kinds of pain that older adults experience. Striking among these is the myth that "Older adults should not take opioids because of the potential for addiction." That this is a myth is borne out in our experiences in working with the elderly. This is an important article for laypersons who have an elderly loved one with symptoms of pain (or depression - a major symptom of pain).