Nearly one in three people with cancer, both with those with active cancer and cancer survivors, report having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much.
Pain and emotional distress were often associated with sleep problems. Read the rest of this entry »
Listening to just thirty minutes of music significantly reduced pain and distress for cancer patients.
The patients were receiving medication, but still had pain.
Music reduced pain scores by more than 50 percent for almost half of them compared to fewer than 1 in 10 similar patients who just rested in bed. Read the rest of this entry »
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new opiate drug for severe breakthrough cancer pain. However, Onsolis® will only be available through a restricted distribution program.
As part of an FDA-required Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, only health care providers, pharmacies, and patients registered with the FOCUS program will be able to prescribe, dispense, and use the medicine. Read the rest of this entry »
Farrah Fawcett died on Thursday, June 25, 2009 of anal cancer that had spread to her liver. She was 62. Anal cancer is much more rare than either colon or rectal cancer, affecting about 5,300 Americans in 2009. 710 will die from it.
In other headlines, the Caterpillar company works with Peoria hospitals and doctors to ensure quality colonoscopy for their employees and a Swiss laboratory will be the first to offer a blood screening test for colorectal cancer.
In research, MRI colonography is useful for patients who can’t have a full colonoscopy before surgery, screening colonoscopies are increasing for Medicare enrollees, and scientists have found factors in tumors that make nerves more sensitive to pain.
One of the most important fears after a cancer diagnosis is suffering during chemotherapy. But patients also are afraid that the cancer will cause suffering from pain that can’t be treated. Almost all patients with cancer are most afraid of pain and controlling it.
It is so important that cancer patients and their caregivers know how to manage pain because patients in pain do not eat, do not drink do not exercise, and do not interact. One of the major misconception for pain control is that the patient will become addicted. Patients may want to save medicine for it when it gets really bad. It needs to be very clear that the best pain control is early intervention. When pain is developing is the time take a painkiller. Don’t wait til it reaches 10/10. Read the rest of this entry »
