Cannabis use and its legalisation: analysing chronic pain in US veterans using electronic health records

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In their debut blog, Grace Williamson and Daniel Leightley review a US study on chronic pain, cannabis legalisation, and cannabis use disorder in US veterans.

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The North American Opioid Crisis: how it came about and how to manage it

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Rob Poole explores the recently published Stanford-Lancet Commission report on the North American Opioid Crisis, which aims to understand the opioid crisis, propose solutions to the crisis in the USA and Canada, and attempt to stop its spread internationally.

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Life after injury: physical, psychological and social impact

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Dafni Katsampa explores a qualitative study carried out by researchers in the Netherlands, which finds that experiencing an injury from a traumatic event like a serious road traffic accident, can impact on physical, psychological and social wellbeing.

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Temporomandibular disorders: Prevalence of psychosocial impairment

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This review assessing the level of psychosocial impairment in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) included 14 observational studies . The studies suggest that psychological disorders and psychosocial impairment are common in patients with TMD but the evidence is of low quality.

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Non-medical use of prescription drugs #NonMedicalDrugs

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Ian Hamilton and Julia Buxton from the University of York preview the #NonMedicalDrugs event that will take place in York on Friday 16th March 2018.

The meeting will bring together people who can offer personal and professional insights of the extent of the issue and how we can support people who develop problems.

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Chronic pain and depression: genetic and environmental risks

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Marcus Munafo explores a recent study that uses genetic data and family environmental information to quantify the risk of chronic pain and the contribution of risk variants for major depressive disorder.

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Whiplash and neck pain: what’s most cost-effective?

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GPs Tom Rowley and Michael Horsfield write their debut MSK Elf blog on a recent systematic review, which investigates the most cost-effective interventions for the management of whiplash-associated and neck pain-associated disorders.

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Will it hurt? Chronic pain and psychological functioning

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Kirsten Lawson examines a recent meta-analysis of psychological functioning in people living with chronic pain. She discovers that anxiety is more common than depression in people with chronic pain and that practitioners should prioritise psychological functioning when caring for patients suffering from chronic pain.

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