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1. Pain school for chronic pain
Chronic pain affects approximately 37.8 million midlife and older Americans, and nearly a third have high-impact pain that makes daily life difficult. In 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs called on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study the potential of the whole health care model being used at the VA to address chronic pain.
The Salem Veterans Affairs Health Care System’s (VAHCS) innovative Prevail Center for Chronic Pain gives veterans basic coping strategies through an online or face-to-face “pain school,” after which they meet for an hour with a caregiving team — made up of a psychologist, a pharmacist, a dietitian, a physical therapist and a physician specializing in pain — that creates a personalized, six-month treatment plan focused on healthy eating, exercise, spirituality and reducing stress.
Prevail’s first group of 280 participants have reported that their pain is no longer controlling their life, says clinical psychologist Rena Courtney, director and creator of Prevail.
Find out more about Prevail and other breakthroughs in chronic pain, including drug-free help for diabetic nerve pain.
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2. A new prostate cancer treatment for men
Ultrasound and other “focal” cancer therapies that treat part of the prostate are offering new hope to men with prostate cancer. TULSA-Pro is an outpatient procedure cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 that destroys cancerous tissue from inside the prostate gland with ultrasound heat. Doctors use magnetic resonance imaging to guide the robotic procedure while a cooling catheter inserted in the rectum reduces heat exposure of nearby tissue. Recovery is generally faster than with surgery or radiation. It’s intended mostly for men with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer that hasn’t spread.
In a recent study where midlife and older men with low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer who had their prostate gland completely treated via TULSA-Pro, 96 percent of participants saw their PSA levels fall by 75 percent or more within a year, 25 percent had new problems with erectile dysfunction (ED) and 11 percent reported some urinary leakage or incontinence.
By three years after their procedures, 13 percent needed additional prostate cancer treatment, but none had severe erectile problems, and 99 percent didn’t need pads for managing incontinence.
In contrast, 25 percent to 33 percent of men who undergo standard surgery or radiation treatment see their cancer return, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Learn more about TULSA-Pro and breakthroughs in men’s health.
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