Musculoskeletal pain is associated with a long-term increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular-related mortality

Objectives. To test the hypothesis that individuals with regional and widespread pain disorders have an increased risk of mortality

Musculoskeletal pain is associated with a long-term increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular-related mortality

Objectives.: to test the hypothesis that individuals with regional and widespread pain disorders have an increased risk of mortality.Methods.: we conducted a prospective cohort study of 4515 adults. Subjects were an age- and sex-stratified sample who had participated in a population study of pain occurrence during 1996. Based on those reports subjects were classified as having no pain, regional pain or widespread pain. All subjects were identified on the National Health Service Central Register and followed up until April 2005, a total of 8.2 yrs, at which time information was obtained on vital status, and if applicable, date and cause of death. The relationship between pain status and subsequent death is expressed as mortality rate ratios with 95% CIs, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity and practice.Results: a total of 35.2% reported regional pain and 16.9% satisfied criteria for widespread pain. In comparison with those without pain, there was a 20% and 30% increased risk of dying over the follow-up period among subjects with regional and widespread pain, respectively. The specific causes of death in excess were cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition, the mortality risk from both cancer and cardiovascular deaths was found to increase as the number of pain sites that subjects reported increased.Conclusions: this study supports a previous observation that persons with regional and widespread pain are at an increased risk of cancer death. Possible mechanisms should be explored

Musculoskeletal pain is more generalised among people from ethnic minorities than among white people in Greater Manchester

Objective: To assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among the major ethnic minority populations of Greater Manchester. Method: The study group was a community sample of 2117 adults from the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and African Caribbean communities. Questionnaires administered by post and by an interviewer were used to assess the presence of any musculoskeletal pain, pain in specific joints, and the level of physical function. Ethnicity was self assigned. The results were compared with those from a recent study in the local white population using the same methodology. Results: Overall response rate was 75% among the south Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi community and 47% among the African Caribbean community. The profile of musculoskeletal pain among the ethnic minority groups differed from that in the white population. Although musculoskeletal symptoms were slightly more prevalent among people from ethnic minority groups than among the white population, pain in multiple sites was considerably more common among ethnic minorities. Conclusions: The finding that musculoskeletal pain is more widespread among ethnic minority communities in the UK has not previously been reported. This may reflect social, cultural, and psychological differences. The cause of the differences in the profile of pain and the health needs that follow need further investigation

Nervous system involvement in association with vasculitis and anticardiolipin antibodies in a patient with systemic sclerosis.

The effect of a pulsed dc on the sintering of copper spheres to copper plates was investigated. It was shown that the current had a marked effect on neck growth between the spheres and the plates. The enhancement of sintering under the effect of the current was attributed to electromigration. Microstructural observations on fracture surfaces of necks formed under high currents showed considerable void formation. It was also observed that the current resulted in increased evaporation and the formation of bunched evaporation steps. Formation of these steps and their location relative to the neck were consistent with current density distributions. The results of this investigation provide direct evidence for the role of the current in the sintering in the pulse electric current sintering method. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics