EULAR 2024: Non-Articular Pain Common in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

PainRelief.com Interview with:

Charis F. Meng, MD
Rheumatologist, Inflammatory Arthritis Center
Assistant Attending Physician
Hospital for Special Surgery
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College

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

Response: Non-articular pain (NAP) is common in our patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and may impact remission outcomes.  However, it is challenging for busy rheumatologists to address specific pain types in our patients with RA, as it is not well defined in the literature, nor has it been validated in RA.  NAP in RA care thus is an unmet need for both our patients with RA and rheumatologists caring for them. 

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Marijuana May Be Substituting for Opioids for Cancer-Related Pain Relief

PainRelief.com Interview with:
Yuhua Bao, PhD
Department of Population Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York

Dr. Yuhua Bao

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

Response: We know that opioid use is declining among cancer patients. We also know that marijuana use is increasing among cancer patients; this increase is related to the recent wave of medical marijuana legalization (adopted by 37 states and D.C. as of Feb 2022).

We do not know if medical marijuana legalization has led to changes in opioid use for cancer patients and what were the implications for cancer pain outcomes.