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pain

Woman with back pain

Health

Some medicines prescribed to treat back pain may prolong the problem

Two drugs called dexamethasone and diclofenac relieve back pain in the short term, but may block healing of the injury and so cause worse pain long term

News

All moral rights asserted. Recolouring or alteration of the image is prohibited without permission. Light micrograph of a section through a duodenum, the beginning of the small intestine, which runs from the stomach to the large intestine. It is where digestion begins and nutrients are absorbed into the blood. The interior (lumen, left) is lined with villi, which are folds in the intestinal surface that greatly increase the surface area for absorption. Also within the surface are crypts of Lieberkuhn (red-lined ovoids), which secrete enzymes into the lumen that help to digest the food. Underlying this layer is the muscularis mucosae (thin violet line) and connective tissue (blue). Across bottom are layers of smooth muscle and then circular and longitudinal muscles that contract and relax to move food through the duodenum. Magnification: x100 when printed at 15 centimetres wide.

Health

Irritable bowel syndrome may be caused by overreacting gut cells

News

Methyltransferase complexed with DNA, molecular model. The strand of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, green and blue) is enclosed by DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT-1, green and pink). This enzyme acts to add methyl groups to the DNA, a process called DNA methylation, which can silence and regulate genes without changing the genetic sequence. DNA methylation is also being studied in relation to cancer.

Humans

Chronic pain in Black people in US may be linked to gene expression

News

Light micrograph of a dorsal root ganglion stained with Cajal's silver nitrate. Near the rounded cell bodies of the pseudounipolar neurons the axons make several turns, forming Cajal's initial glomeruli.

Health

Map of pain neurons may lead to more effective drugs for chronic pain

News

Inflatable implant injected into the spine could relieve chronic pain

Health

Inflatable implant injected into the spine could relieve chronic pain

News

What is the placebo effect?

Definition

The placebo effect

Hypnosis

Health

What hypnosis does to your brain, and how it can improve your health

Features

backs artwork

Health

The back pain epidemic: Why popular treatments are making it worse

Features

Can the UK avoid having a lethal opioid crisis like the one in the US?

Health

Can the UK avoid having a lethal opioid crisis like the one in the US?

Insight

Preventing and overcoming chronic pain

Video

Preventing and overcoming chronic pain

Doctors are largely taught to cure illnesses by just treating symptoms. Yet this isn’t an effective way to deal with the epidemic of chronic lifestyle-related conditions that now flood doctors’ surgeries. Rangan Chatterjee will show you how to change all that.

Video

Health

Silencing brain cells in mice can make them no longer care about pain

News

Health

Misuse of pregabalin painkiller has risen 900 per cent in Australia

News

Health

Catching up on sleep at weekends may aggravate period pain

News

Life

‘The pain was instant’: The devastating impact of vaginal mesh surgery

Features

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