February 2014

FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA requires label changes to warn of risk for possibly permanent nerve damage from antibacterial fluoroquinolone drugs taken by mouth or by injection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required the drug labels and medication guides for all fluoroquinolone antibacterial drugs be updated to better describe the serious side effect of peripheral neuropathy. This serious nerve damage potentially caused by fluoroquinolones may occur soon after these drugs are taken and may be permanent. The risk of …

FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA requires label changes to warn of risk for possibly permanent nerve damage from antibacterial fluoroquinolone drugs taken by mouth or by injection Read More »

Capsaicinoids in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: A Review

Abstract: The treatment of neuropathic pain is difficult. Oral pharmaceuticals have significant side effects, and treatment efficacy tends to be modest. The use of topical analgesics reduces the potential for systemic side effects and allows direct application of medications to the area of pain. The natural spicy substance, capsaicin, has historically been known for its …

Capsaicinoids in the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: A Review Read More »

Constructing and Deconstructing the Gate Theory of Pain

Abstract: The gate theory of pain, published by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall in Science in 1965, was formulated to provide a mechanism for coding the nociceptive component of cutaneous sensory input. The theory dealt explicitly with the apparent conflict in the 1960s between the paucity of sensory neurons that responded selectively to intense stimuli …

Constructing and Deconstructing the Gate Theory of Pain Read More »

Neuropathic Pain: Mechanisms and Their Clinical Implications

Abstract: Neuropathic pain can develop after nerve injury, when deleterious changes occur in injured neurons and along nociceptive and descending modulatory pathways in the central nervous system. The myriad neurotransmitters and other substances involved in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain also play a part in other neurobiological disorders. This might partly explain the …

Neuropathic Pain: Mechanisms and Their Clinical Implications Read More »

Peripheral Neuropathy Common in Youth with Type 2 Diabetes

Dr. Eva Feldman, MD, PhD, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology and director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan reports that around a quarter of young people with type 2 diabetes also have diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a new pilot study indicates. The prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy …

Peripheral Neuropathy Common in Youth with Type 2 Diabetes Read More »