A THOUGHT PIECE

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2008 NFA Leader Against Pain-Advocate Grab a cup of coffee, sit comfortably and let us begin. The papers here in the UK this weekend have been full of justice being handed out contrary to British law by groups of Muslim elders sitting judgment on those with the same religious beliefs, in [...]

GROWING SUPPORT FOR FIBROMITE AHEAD OF HER TIME

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2007 NFA Leader Against Pain-Advocate You may remember the story about Linda Allen, a UK fibromite who in spite of being severely disabled with this invisible disability has been raising FMS awareness among medical students. Her gracious offer to help anyone willing to follow her example and spread the word has [...]

MAKING MEMORIES AND SOBERING THOUGHTS FOR FIBROMITES

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2007 NFA Leader Against Pain-Advocate   I well remember how much I enjoyed Gene Kelly’s performance in the film “Singing in the Rain”. It made me feel so good, in spite of the bad weather, and between us, I really felt like being silly, running outside in the rain and singing [...]

CO-PROXAMOL BUNGLED WITHDRAWAL IS A FARCE

by Jeanne Hambleton © 2007 NFA Leader Against Pain-Advocate PULSE, the search engine website developed by GPs for GPs, suggests the co-proxamol “bungled withdrawal is not working for patients or doctors” and it is turning into a farce. This was announced this week on the PULSE website together with great news that GPs will accept [...]

CONGO ON DOGGIE DEATH ROW GETS WORLDWIDE SUPPORT AND TV PUBLICITY FOR HIS REPRIEVE

by Jeanne Hambleton © Without prejudice NFA Leader Against Pain Last month I wrote the sad story of a German Shepherd dog called Congo who had been sentenced to death, and who is now on a temporary reprieve awaiting a final verdict. His crime was doing what all dogs do – protecting the ones he [...]

Dear Editor,

This year we are helping to support the mission of the Arthritis Foundation by raising money and participating in the Arthritis Walk. Our team Looking Good is walking in honor of Nancy Clay, BSN RN. She has taught us through experience and expertise. In addition Nancy has brought resources and speakers to us to help [...]

Opioids for managing chronic non-malignant pain: safe and effective prescribing.

Kahan M, Srivastava A, Wilson L, Mailis-Gagnon A, Midmer D. Addiction Medical Service, St Joseph’s Health Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. kahanm@stjoe.on.ca OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence on safe and effective prescribing of opioids for chronic non-malignant pain. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: MEDLINE was searched using the terms “opioid effectiveness” and “adverse effects.” There is strong evidence [...]

Prevalence of Interpersonal Abuse in Primary Care Patients Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Pain.

Balousek S, Plane MB, Fleming M. Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA. BACKGROUND: Interpersonal abuse is associated with clinical problems including chronic pain disorders. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to describe 30-day and lifetime prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse found in [...]

SOUNDING OFF ABOUT FIBROMYALGIA AWARENESS WEEK

By Jeanne Hambleton© UK Fibromite I know I am always going on about raising awareness and fibromyalgia and this is especially important as far as the UK Government is concerned. Although we have E Petitions allegedly for the eyes of the Prime Minister, asking for support for various aspects of fibromyalgia, I have my doubts [...]

The classification of fibromyalgia syndrome.

Müller W, Schneider EM, Stratz T. Rheumatologische Forschungsabteilung, Weihermatten 1, 79713, Bad Säckingen, Germany. As has been shown by a number of working groups, primary fibromyalgia syndrome does not represent a single clinical entity. It is possible to distinguish between a subgroup with high pain sensitivity and no associated psychiatric condition, a second and a [...]