You may recall a study we posted about the placebo effect on your brain and spine. One of the oldest healing treatments around -- acupuncture -- may work entirely in your brain to battle pain too.

British scientists discovered the drain of pain while they were scanning the brains of 17 patients during two rounds of acupuncture (a shallow treatment used by Japanese practitioners and deeper insertions, per the Chinese method).

As a patient receives acupuncture successfully, he or she experiences deqi, a composite of unique sensations connected with the clinical efficacy of the treatment. Out of the 17 patients treated, brain scans of the 10 who experienced deqi showed these sensations contributed to a deactivation of pathways in the brain that process pain.

Good to see that conventional medicine is testing complementary and alternative medical practices like acupuncture and tai chi, and paying closer attention to all the real benefits associated with them.

Brain Research, Vol. 1315, pp. 111-118, February 22, 2010

Telegraph.co.uk February 6, 2010

ScienceDaily February 5, 2010

The best exercise program may not be the most conventional, structured one but it can certainly be more effective for you and your health, as evidenced in this study about the beneficial, gentle effect of Tai Chi on the knees of seniors.

Forty healthy seniors over age 65 with knee osteoarthritis were divided into two groups pursuing very different treatment options over the course of the 12-week study. One group participated in hour-long Tai Chi sessions twice a week, learning and practicing self-massage, movement, breathing and relaxation techniques while the control group attended classes that reviewed various ways (among them diet and nutrition) to treat knee osteoarthritis for 40 minutes followed by 20 minutes of stretching exercises.

Compared to the control group, seniors who practiced Tai Chi enjoyed a significant decrease in knee pain and, generally, better physical and mental health.

Before starting any exercise program, however, you'll want to review our 10 tips that will, not only, help you sidestep the inadvertent aches and pains that come with exercise and keep doing it long after the other 50 percent throw in the towel.

Arthritis Care & Research, Vol. 61, No. 11, pp. 1545-1553, November 15, 2009

ScienceDaily November 1, 2009

Yahoo News October 29, 2009

When friends try to convince you emotions are completely separate from your physical health, consider sending a link to this study about moods and how they affect your sensitivity to pain.

Canadian scientists measured the neural activity of 13 patients (via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) who were given small but painful electrical shocks while viewing groups of images geared to elicit either a neutral (a book), negative (an angry bear) or positive (water-skiing) response.

No surprise, when exposed to unpleasant images, patients felt pain far more strongly than they did when looking at more pleasant pictures.

These findings backed up similar research conducted two years ago that found music perceived by patients to be pleasant reduced pain levels significantly.

Nature Precedings February 26, 2009 Free Full Text Study

healthfinder.gov November 13, 2009

Insciences.org November 10, 2009

The placebo effect -- a handy and inert tool used in research to study the effect of medical treatments -- may not only work on your brain, among other things, to tame pain. German researchers believe the power of the placebo may be felt in your spinal cord.

Scientists applied painful heat to the arms of 13 healthy men, then told them they were being treated with two creams, one a placebo and the other containing a "painkiller." However, both creams contained inactive ingredients. The first time the sham painkilling cream was used, scientists cut down the intensity of the heat by more than half to give patients the feeling that the "real" product actually worked. When testing the real placebo, however, scientists kicked up the temperature to 80 percent of their patients' average pain threshold to trick them.

Using specialized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, researchers applied both creams in separate spots on each patient's left forearm, then turned on the heat in each spot 15 times.

When the skin where the fake painkiller was applied with heat, patients reported a lessening of pain by 26 percent, and no responses from the fMRI scanner. When the other control product was used, however, the fMRI recorded signaling in the region of the spine known as the dorsal horn, implications that neural activity had increased in response to pain.

Researchers speculate the signaling picked up by the fMRI in the spine may be triggered by higher brain areas releasing natural opioids that dampen pain.

Science, Vol. 326, No. 5951, p. 404, October 16, 2009

Popsci October 16, 2009

Reuters October 15, 2009

New Scientist October 16, 2009

Add premature signs of aging to the list of problems pain can impose on younger Baby Boomers that make them look and feel as if they're 20-30 years older than they really are, according to a new study.

Researchers reviewed data on more than 18,500 patients (ages 50-older) participating in the 2004 Health and Retirement Study examining the markedly increasing number of functional limits that impede a person's ability to live independently as they age. Among the physical functions considered: Daily living activities like bathing or eating, using one's upper extremities and mobility issues such as walking or climbing stairs.

The physical abilities of young Baby Boomers in the 50-59 age bracket who suffered from pain were very comparable to patients in the 80-89 demographic who experienced no pain issues. By the numbers, only 4 percent of fiftysomething patients in pain could jog a mile and just 55 percent were able to walk several blocks.

Although the study wasn't built to determine if pain causes disability or vice versa, scientists believe both scenarios may be true and that "pain and disability probably can act together in ways that make both problems worsen in a downward spiral." Moreover, patients may be better served if pain and disabilities are treated at the same time, not separately.

Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Vol. 57, No. 9, pp. 1556-1561, September 2009

ScienceDaily September 21, 2009

Changing your sleep habits with behavioral therapy -- not a prescription -- can do a world of good for your health, especially for older Baby Boomers battling osteoarthritis and related comorbid (secondary) insomnia, according to a recent study.

Researchers compared the effect of treating osteoarthritis and insomnia with cognitive behavior therapies on 23 patients (average age 69) over the course of a year versus assigning 28 patients (mean age 66.5) to a stress management/wellness control group.

No surprise, sleep latency (the time it takes to transition from being fully awake to asleep) among patients learning new therapies decreased significantly at the outset (almost 17 minutes) and those same benefits persisted a year later (11 minutes). Wake after sleep onset (the time spent from sleep onset to final awakening) also fell sharply by 37 minutes and almost 20 minutes 12 months later.

The pain associated with arthritis declined significantly too (by 9.7 points initially and 4.7 points a year later), leading researchers to conclude that insomnia coexists as a separate illness alongside osteoarthritis, not as a symptom, so improving sleep habits can have a beneficial impact on both conditions.

Learn how to get more and better sleep every night and treat the aches and pains that may be associated with it by reviewing these latest Sleep Tips to Improve Your Waking Health.

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 15, 2009. p. 355-362

healthfinger.gov August 20, 2009

EurekAlert August 15, 2009

An alarming percentage of joint health supplements for humans and pets failed to achieve minimum quality standards and FDA labeling requirements, based on recent testing conducted by ConsumerLab.com.

Out of 21 products made for human consumption that were selected by ConsumerLab.com for testing, five failed to meet federal regulations or quality standards for important reasons, including lead contamination, general mislabeling and failing to include the correct amount of ingredients. In one case, a product contained the right amount of glucosamine but no detectable amount of chondrotin, while another had less than 6 percent of the stated amount of chondrotin and 2.81 micrograms of lead.

No surprise, pet products fared even worse, with only two out of six chosen by ConsumerLab.com earning passing grades. Although none were tainted with lead, four products contained no more than 17 percent of the glucosamine or chondrotin claimed on their labels.

Learn more about quality problems associated with other supplements, and get a better understanding what you're really paying for, by reviewing CNCA's Nutritional Supplement Quality - the Facts.

ConsumerLab.com July 6, 2009 Subscription Required