Teens with chronic pain should not be prescribed medical marijuana, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Due to a lack of information on the risks and benefits of medical marijuana for adolescents, the Mayo Clinic is not recommending that youth be given pot for pain conditions. While the drug may help alleviate some of their other conditions or symptoms, marijuana can lead to some negative short-term side effects including fatigue, impaired concentration and slower reaction times.

"The consequences may be very, very severe, particularly for adolescents who may get rid of their pain -- or not -- at the expense of the rest of their life," commentary co-author Dr. J. Michael Bostwick, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist, said in a press release.

The commentary will be published in the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the U.S. according to the2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About 15.2 million users used marijuana in the month before they completed the questionnaire.

Full story teens treating chronic pain at CBS News

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Almost everybody has one now and then, but people tend to dismiss them as a nuisance at best. “All headaches are not the same,” says P.N. Renjen, senior consultant, neurology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi. “You need to figure out what sort of headache you are dealing with.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), headaches are most prevalent in one’s productive years—from the late teens to the 50s—and have been linked with loss of productivity and absenteeism at work and school.

While migraines are more commonly known now, there are also other types of headaches that can be debilitating in varying degrees. And since there are no definitive tests to clearly identify some headaches, diagnosing them can be tricky.

It’s common for chronic migraine to be diagnosed as chronic tension-type headache (TTH), says Mukul Varma, senior consultant, neurology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. “When migraine becomes chronic, the migrainous character (one-sided, throbbing pain) of many of the headaches is lost, and they assume a tension-type character (whole head, dull ache of a non-throbbing kind). The International Headache Classification now says that even if eight of the 15 headaches occurring in a month have a migrainous character, the diagnosis is chronic migraine,” explains Dr Varma, who will be attending the 16th edition of the International Headache Congress starting 27 June in Boston, US, where neurologists and pain specialists will discuss the latest in headache research and medical practice.

Full story of headaches and pains at Live Mint

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If your child complains and experiences stiffness or pain in the joints, and loss of flexibility and swelling, then consult a doctor as he may have juvenile arthritis.

Arthritis is largely associated with the elderly, but shockingly children too can develop arthritis. Senior Consultant - Arthroscopy and Joint Replacement, Dr. Jayant Arora with Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurgaon explains what is juvenile arthritis, types of juvenile arthritis, causes and symptoms of juvenile arthritis, and prevention and treatment of juvenile arthritis.

What is juvenile arthritis?

Juvenile arthritis affects children; Dr. Jayant explains "Any form of arthritis occurring in children below the age of 16 years is called juvenile or childhood arthritis. It is a chronic auto immune disease, where the body attacks its own healthy cells." Due to poor autoimmune system your children will experience juvenile arthritis.

Full story of juvenile arthritis at Times of India

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one: you should eat foods that are high in antioxidants, such as blueberries or pomegranates; they’re “good for you.” What does that even mean? Why are they so “good for you?”

Well, it starts with basic nutrition. Nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene, along with other substances in plant foods, are antioxidants that can help slow down or prevent damage to body cells that can lead to chronic and deadly health conditions, such as heart disease and cancer, according to livestrong.com.

Here are some reasons why antioxidants are so important to your health, courtesy of livestrong.com.

Protection Against Heart Disease
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a diet high in fruits, vegetables and other foods that contain antioxidants to help fight cardiovascular disease. They do not recommend antioxidant supplements, however, because there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that they have any beneficial effect on heart disease.

Full story of antioxidants at The Safety Report

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The New York Academy of Sciences' Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Initiative(ADDI) today gathered leaders from industry, government, and academia for the first of a two-day workshop titled, "Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease — What Will It Take?"

The goal of the workshop is to develop a shared roadmap that will lead to additional drug development, which is currently hindered by extensive clinical trial processes. Very few drugs are currently approved to treat Alzheimer's disease and none effectively targets the underlying cause of the disease. Currently, more than 5 million people in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and that number is expected to grow to 14 million by 2050 if left unchecked.

During the first day of the conference, working groups focused on unique challenges related to disease prevention, with special attention to applying methods of adaptive clinical design that provide greater flexibility to redesign clinical trials at interim states so as to capitalize on positive early results. The aim of such an effort, which has been successfully applied to other diseases such as cancer, is to make drug development more efficient and cost-effective.

Full story of AD and Dementia prevention at The New York Academy of Sciences

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One of the more common injuries we see with young athletes, most notably female athletes, is anterior knee pain, or what is also known as runner’s knee or patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS).

PFPS is an irritation on the undersurface of the knee cap. Most people with this condition will complain of pain along the inside or outside of the kneecap or directly below the kneecap. These symptoms are more commonly brought on with running and jumping (sports) or squatting, walking down stairs and prolonged sitting.

So what causes PFPS? Even though pain is felt at the knee, the knee is not usually the culprit. One of the most common causes is weakness in certain muscles of the hip. These particular muscles control the mechanics of the knee, and with weakness, they cause the femur (or upper leg bone) to internally rotate and adduct (knee goes inward) causing the kneecap to track outside of its normal groove. This will cause much irritation and stress to this joint.

Functional weakness in these hip muscles can also lead to more serious injuries in sports, such as tearing your ACL. This devastating injury, along with other serious knee injuries, can be the result of poor knee mechanics during landing or cutting. Again, these faulty knee mechanics are the direct result from weakness in the lateral hip muscles which can easily be diagnosed and treated by your athletic trainer or physical therapist.

Full story of knee pain and the hips at the Journal Star

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Physical therapy is just one essential part of any comprehensive pain management plan. A multidisciplinary approach to pain management utilizes the strengths of several different techniques to complement each other and provide the most effective treatment for those suffering from chronic pain.

Using only one method to manage pain (such as chiropractic adjustments or acupuncture) will often fail to resolve problems, or leave the patient with insufficient skills to manage pain. There are many different ways to approach pain management, and a balanced program is more effective than a singular approach. By consulting with a licensed pain physician to create a multidisciplinary program, the patient can take control of their body and learn to manage chronic pain in a healthy, effective way.

Physical therapy can find solutions to improve a patient’s quality of life through pain management strategies, and, in many cases, reduce pain. Therapy treatments may include:

Strengthening Exercises

Physical therapists can prescribe a program of graded exercises -- movement that are gradually increased according to your abilities. They help improve conditioning and movement, reducing the stress and strain on the body.

Full story of chronic pain and physical therapy at Komo News

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Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants work with people of all ages to participate in the activities (occupations) they want and need to do.

Patricia Fingerhut, OT, PhD, assistant professor and chair of department of occupational therapy at The University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston, said, "our profession began in 1917 as 'reconstruction aides' as soldiers began coming back during World War I. Physical therapy began in the same place, and our specializations eventually split into two distinct groups."

Occupational therapists also commonly help children with disabilities participate in school and social situations, help people recovering from injury to regain skills, and provide support for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes.

"In the area of health care careers, occupational therapists are unique. We call ourselves the 'git 'er done' people," Fingerhut said, "because our goal is helping people to get back to doing whatever it is they want to do."

Full story of occupational therapy at the Houston Chronicle

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The pain experience can not only change our view of the world around us, but it also contorts the way we see ourselves. Alterations to our own personal view of who we are and what we look like can mean that we see ourselves as different from the person we used to be. These self-perceived modifications can take on many forms, including emotional changes about how we feel about ourselves as well as what we think we physically look like. Chronic pain has the power to manipulate the lenses that we look through when we visualize our own selves.

Emotional reactions to being in pain can take on many forms leading to mood changes like depression, anxiety, fear, anger, or even a feeling of being traumatized. Further cognitive processing of our thoughts can make us judgmental toward ourselves, sometimes in very negative ways. We may start think of ourselves as less worthy, less important, or even less beloved by our friends and family. This leads to views of inadequacy and low self-esteem. For example, the family breadwinner may start to feel like a failure if he or she is no longer able to work because of a low-back injury that led to chronic back pain. The valued role of being seen as a provider for this person in pain is now lost, precipitating negative views of the self, even irrespective of how others may feel.

Pain can also significantly alter what we think we look like. The person we think we see when we look in the mirror starts to morph into a different-looking image. A classic example of this is seen with a challenging pain disorder known as "complex regional pain syndrome" (CRPS). CRPS usually involves an arm or leg and typically occurs after some sort of injury. It is viewed as a neurologic pain disorder with changes taking place in both the central nervous system as well as peripherally around where the symptoms are felt, like a hand or foot. As a result, in some cases the pain may be much more intense and chronic than what would be expected from the original injury.

Full story of CRPS at Huffington Post

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Parents often use the adage "You are what you eat!" to encourage children to make healthy food choices, but the saying is equally true for mature adults. Providing your body with a variety of nutrients lets you feel your best, and may even prevent disease and help you live longer.

Allison Tannis is a nutritionist, author and professional consultant. She believes that aging well means eating well. She recommends these five super nutrients to help baby boomers and older adults age well and stay healthy.

1. Omega-3s

"It can be hard to see fat as healthy, but omega-3 fatty acids are potentially one of the most important nutrients for our health," says Tannis. "Omega-3 fatty acids are vital to the maintenance and function of our eyes, brain and nervous system - parts of us that start to weaken with increasing age. In addition, these healthy fats have great ability to fight inflammation that is the cause of painful joints, cardiovascular disease and even wrinkles."

How can you get your daily dose of 1 to 2 grams of omega-3s, as recommended by the American Heart Association? Wild-caught fish like salmon, sardines and Arctic char are good sources of omega-3s. Plant sources of omega-3s include flax, chia and hemp. It can be difficult to get enough omega-3s from food sources, so supplements are a good alternative.

Full story of nutrients to help age well at Courier Journal

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