Tag: wellness

neuroscience, Research Articles

From Pufferfish Poison to Precision Pain Relief

A New Chapter in Pain Medicine — With Important Caveats Fifty million Americans live with chronic pain, and for many, current treatments fall short. Opioids carry addiction risks. Anticonvulsants help some but not others. NSAIDs have limits. For patients with persistent neuropathic pain — the burning, shooting, electric sensation that follows nerve damage — options have been particularly limited. Until now, perhaps. Over the last … Continue reading From Pufferfish Poison to Precision Pain Relief

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD
AI, Patient-Physician Relationship, Research Articles

The Language of the Body: Why Patient-Reported Symptoms Predict Survival

A few months ago, I met a man in his late sixties with advanced gastrointestinal cancer that had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. His wife had recently died. He lived alone in a three-story house. He knew his disease was incurable, but he was motivated; he wanted “more time.” At each visit, he told his oncologist he felt okay. His pain was controlled. … Continue reading The Language of the Body: Why Patient-Reported Symptoms Predict Survival

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD
Patient-Physician Relationship, Research Articles

The Pattern We’re Finally Seeing

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash My mother had symptoms for months before her stage IV colon cancer diagnosis in the early 1990s. My father’s younger brother was a surgeon, we had medical expertise in the family, yet the cancer still went undetected until it was far advanced. At the time, I chalked it up to the limitations of medicine in that era, before … Continue reading The Pattern We’re Finally Seeing

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD
Medical Humanities, neuroscience

I Only Want What’s in Your Mind and Heart”: The Origins and Science of Total Pain in Oncology

So here’s the thing about pain: it’s complicated. Last weekend I was on call when my phone rang. It was an elderly woman in her 80s with advanced cancer that had been stable. Her chart said “pain well-controlled on optimized opioid regimen” – one of those clinical phrases we use that sometimes means everything and sometimes means nothing at all. She started talking about bone … Continue reading I Only Want What’s in Your Mind and Heart”: The Origins and Science of Total Pain in Oncology

Unknown's avatarMarcin Chwistek, MD