Sperling Medical Group

reading & research

Facet Pain

Landmark clinical study shows MRgFUS effective for bone mets pain.

A Landmark Study on Palliation of Bone Mets PainWhen a primary cancer such as cancer of the breast, prostate or lung spreads to the bone (bone mets), treatment strategies become complex. In today’s world of oncology, better systemic chemotherapies can add months and even years to a patient’s life; in addition, local cancer control of […] KEEP READING

Understanding cartilage increases awareness of its importance.

What You Should Know About CartilageOne of the most fascinating components of the human body is cartilage, an incredibly versatile material. Trying to describe cartilage is like the six blind men who try to figure out what an elephant is: “The elephant is like a pillar,” said the man who touched his leg. “Oh no! […] KEEP READING

Essential tremor gets worse in stressful situations.

How Stress Makes Essential Tremor WorseEssential tremor (ET) is the most common form of uncontrollable rhythmic shaking, though it is sometimes misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease. The involuntary trembling results from abnormal communication between certain areas of the brain (cerebellum, thalamus, and brain stem). It is estimated that 10 million Americans suffer from ET, though many […] KEEP READING

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – Part 4: Will AI Make Mistakes that Harm Patients?

The most obvious risk is that AI systems will sometimes be wrong, and that patient injury or other health-care problems may result.[i] There are many levels in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already serving the field of medicine, but two of them involve direct impact on patients: enhance patient information available to doctors (e.g. diagnosis, […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine – Part 3: Is There a Downside to AI in Medicine?

From deep learning algorithms that can read CT scans faster than humans to natural language processing (NLP) that can comb through unstructured data in electronic health records (EHRs), the applications for AI in healthcare seem endless.[i] Endless application implies endless possibilities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine and healthcare. Sounds terrific! So, what’s the downside? […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Will Artificial Intelligence Put Radiologists Out of Business?

AI applications are entering clinics at a rapid rate, and physicians have met the technology with equal parts excitement about its potential to reduce their workload and fear about losing their jobs to machines.[i]   Who’s afraid of the big bad computer? Apparently, some radiologists—and even medical students contemplating entering that field—are fearful of being […] CONTINUE

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Deep Learning in Image-Based Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Gone are the days of “exploratory surgery.” Today’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used scanning method that provides accurate 3D pictures of physical anatomy and bodily processes. It is noninvasive, and there is no exposure to radiation as with CT/PET scans. MRI detects changes in atoms under high frequency radio waves within a […] CONTINUE

3 Simple Practices Your Spine Will Appreciate

Could you afford to be out of work for several weeks? Back pain is not only a leading cause for calling in sick, it prolongs absence for weeks at a time. According to one study, “…the proportion of people with back pain returning to work was 68.2% at 1 month, 85.6% at 1-6 months and […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

How Can Pain Come from Joints in Your Spine?

When you think of joints in your body, the “usual suspects” come immediately to mind: knees, ankles, wrists, knuckles in fingers and toes, shoulders and elbows. Even before you can remember, back when you were learning to talk, your parents may have played a little game with you. Where’s your nose? Where’s your ear? Where’s […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

Is Your Back Pain All in Your Head?

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is not picky. Like an equal opportunity employer, it chooses all ethnicities and excludes no genders. “The prevalence of CLBP in adults has increased more than 100% in the last decade and continues to increase dramatically in the aging population … with a significant impact on functional capacity and occupational […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

Second Time Around: Glucosamine and Facet Joint Pain

If something is worth writing about, it’s worth writing about twice. This is the second time I have occasion to bring up glucosamine in connection with facet joint pain. The first time was an article called “Can Glucosamine Prevent Facet Joint Pain?” in which I indicated that evidence of cartilage benefit in the spine is […] CONTINUE

CATEGORY:
Facet Pain