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Mind And Body Training To Improve Functioning And Coping With Chronic Pain: A Pilot Study, Olga Valieva, Leah M. Welsh, Betty Amuzu, Niraj Nijhawan, Jessica J.F. Kram

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Background: Patients with chronic pain are often crippled by psychological distress, depression and fear. These patients also can develop altered pain perception, with enhanced brain activity in pain-responsive regions and those associated with anxiety/depression. Exercise and meditation can impact pain-reducing brain areas and positively influence pain characteristics.

Purpose: To alter pain center activity by reducing the activation of the higher brain and deactivation of the lower brain with somatocognitive and meditative practices, with secondary aim of reducing anxiety/depression and improve overall quality of life.

Methods: We conducted a pilot study on mentally competent adult women with stable chronic pain who …

An Overview Of Cancer Rehabilitation And Exercise In The Literature: Promoting Increased Referrals To Improve Oncology Outcomes, Leslie J. Waltke

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Medical management for malignant neoplastic diseases includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal and biological therapies. Each of these antineoplastic interventions has unique impacts on physiological, musculoskeletal and functional performance. Cancer rehabilitation is the area of physical medicine responsible for addressing impairments associated with cancer treatment and survivorship, advanced disease and end of life. Although it is expected that more than one-half of persons being treated for cancer will suffer moderate pain and physical and functional decline, and that most will describe fatigue, referrals to rehabilitation are traditionally low. Evidence suggests that referrals to rehabilitation before, during and after treatment for …