Mucosal Breaks from Periodontal Disease Likely Promotes Rheumatoid Arthritis

PainRelief.com Interview with:
Dana Orange MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation
The Rockefeller Institute and
William H. Robinson, MD PhD
James W. Raitt, M.D., Professor Medicine
Immunology & Rheumatology
Stanford Health Care

PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Periodontitis is more common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis than those without.  

Of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, those with current periodontitis are less likely to receive benefit from treatment with biologic agents than those without periodontitis.

“Empowered Relief” Program Equips Patients With Effective Pain Relief Skills

PainRelief.com Interview with:
Beth Darnall, PhD

Director, Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab
Associate Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (by courtesy)
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute (affiliate faculty)
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Dr. Darnall

PainRelief.com:  What is the background for this study?  What are the main findings?

Best pain care integrates patient education and tools to help them manage pain and reduce their symptoms1. Multi-session psychological or “behavioral” pain treatment approaches, such as 8-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), are effective for equipping people with pain management skills. However, our prior research showed that patient access to these treatments is often poor, in part due to the costs and time burdens (e.g., up to 16 hours of treatment time).2

Findings from our study suggest that a one-time 2-hour pain relief skills class (“Empowered Relief”) was non-inferior to 8-session CBT for reducing multiple symptoms, including pain catastrophizing, pain intensity, and pain interference at 3 months post-treatment. We also found the single-session pain class imparted substantial reductions for pain bothersome, sleep disturbance, anxiety, fatigue and depression.

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