Your body cannot create the amino acid phenylalanine on its own from other nutrients, and you must therefore consume it in your diet through food or dietary supplements. It is an amino acid that your body uses to create pain-relieving brain...
Pain-relieving medications are meant to improve your quality of life whether you are dealing with a short-term ailment or a chronic pain disease. When taken legally and as your doctor prescribed, they can be safe drugs to use. However, when when...
Pain medication and antibiotics are two types of medication given following shoulder surgery. Pain control is typically administerered via IV. As patients continue in the post-operative course, they can be transitioned to oral pain medications...
Amino acids are nutrients that make up protein, and phenylalanine is an amino acid. L-phenylalanine is the natural form found in protein-rich foods. D-phenylalanine is the synthetic mirror image. Since some benefits are associated with one form...
Childbirth is painful, and modern medicine provides many coping methods. Two-thirds of laboring women in the U.S. use epidurals for pain control, according to Epidural Analgesia in Labor, which appeared in the August 2004 issue of "Continuing...
Migraine sufferers often look to alternative treatments when traditional medical options do not provide adequate relief. These treatments include biofeedback, the use of melatonin, chiropractic, massage and acupuncture. Each treatment has been...
Morphine, an opioid narcotic, is available by prescription in many forms--including oral pills and liquid, injection, continuous infusion and rectal suppositories. Uses for morphine are extensive; this drug affects multiple body systems, such as...
NSAID is an abbreviation for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Typically thought of as painkillers, NSAIDs can be used to reduce swelling and fever as well as pain. Many common over-the-counter pain medications, including acetaminophen and...
Prostate is a leading killer among men of any age, and is the No. 1 cause of death for men over the age of 75. The disease can cause significant urination, hip and back pain. Traditional treatment for prostate cancer may include hormone therapy,...
Vitamins taken on a daily basis can complicate surgical procedures by increasing the blood's inability to clot, causing excessive bleeding, creating cardiac instability, hypoglycemia and changes the effects of anesthesia via alterations in drug...
Acute pain is common in the hospital from disease processes and surgery. According to "Miller's Anesthesia," pain is classified into nociceptive, in which the nerve endings sense pain signals, and neuropathic, in which damaged nerves signal pain...
Epidurals are an effective form of pain relief and anesthesia in laboring women and patients undergoing certain surgical procedures. Epidurals are administered by specially trained doctors known as anesthesiologists. The anesthesiologist inserts a...
Percocet, or oxycodone, is a narcotic pain reliever that is used to relieve moderate to severe pain, states the Mayo Clinic. The mechanism in which percocet relieves pain is unknown; however, this drug may activate specific receptors in the brain...
Acute or chronic pain is something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their life. According to a poll conducted in 2005 by ABC News, USA Today and the Stanford University Medical Center, more than half of all Americans live with...
Many of Americans present with kidney stones, with 5 percent of women and 12 percent of men reporting stones at some time in their life, according to Andrew Evan, a kidney stone researcher. Kidney stones require passage from the kidney via the...
The brain only occupies roughly 2 percent of total body weight, and uses 20 percent of the overall oxygen supply in the body, according to Barbara Carlson, RN, Ph.D. and colleagues in May 2008 in the "Journal of the American Geriatric Society."...
Epidural anesthesia is a frequent choice of pain relief for women in labor. During this procedure, a needle is inserted into the epidural space of the spine and an anesthetic medication is injected via a small catheter that remains in the back....
Passion fruit is a perennial creeping vine native to the Southeastern region of the United States. It is also called passionflower, passiflora or passion vine. The flower has a striking, unusual appearance and grows in a number of brightly colored...
Anxiety disorders affect about 20 percent of the adult population. These disorders have an adverse effect on daytime performance and nighttime sleep. They also put people at risk for substance abuse. Prescription medications provide a treatment...
Mobic, known generically as meloxicam, is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. The NSAID class of medication is made up of reversible inhibitors of the cyclooxygenase, of COX, 1 and 2 enzymes, but meloxicam more effective...
It has long been a well-established fact that smoking is hazardous to your health. Smoking can cause a myriad of diseases and conditions that can lead to substantial health care costs, lost productivity at work and many smoking-related health...
According to the Mayo Clinic, sore throats are one of the frequent complaints seen by physicians. Also known as pharyngitis, most sore throats are caused by viruses. They can be the first sign that you're coming down with a cold or the flu. Sore...
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Celebrex in 1998 as a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, or NSAID. "Medical Surgical Nursing" describes Celebrex as a Cox-2 inhibitor that impedes synthesis of the chemical prostaglandin....
Hypernatremia is a medical condition in which your sodium levels are not in proper balance with your fluid levels. Sodium levels of greater than 145 milliequivalents per liter -- mEq/L -- are considered too high and are indicative of...
Bilevel positive airway pressure, or BiPAP, machines provide breathing support to people who suffer from sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a medical condition in which an affected person abnormally stops breathing at sporadic periods during the night....
Anxiety is a major concern for many people. Generalized anxiety syndrome, as well as acute situations that produce anxiety, can be debilitating, with symptoms such as racing heart, sweating, sleep disturbances and irrational fears. Passiflora,...
Labor is a painful experience. Many women in labor receive some sort of medication; medical practitioners in obstetrics are always aware that they have two patients and that both will be affected by any drugs given in labor. Common medications...
If you were told you could dramatically decrease your pain without pills, injections or surgeries, you would probably jump on the opportunity. Suffering from pain can make you miss out on many important activities in life. Pharmaceutical pain...
Making an infusion involves brewing a large amount of dried herb in water over a long period of time. An infusion allows you to obtain the herb's active constituents in drink form, which is easier for your body to absorb. Passionflower is a...
