Whether or not you’re into podcasts, be sure to check out our good friend Dr. Rob Lamberts new show being hosted on iTunes.

Guaranteed to be both informative and entertaining.

See below Press Release for more information.

Dean

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Press Release:

MACMILLAN INTRODUCES THE HOUSE CALL DOCTOR TO THE QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FRANCHISE

The HOUSE CALL DOCTOR’S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR TAKING CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH, hosted by Dr. Rob Lamberts, joins the highly successful Quick and Dirty Tips iTunes podcasts on July 14, with free content also available for download at House Call Doctor.

How can I lower my cholesterol? Is Tylenol really safe? Why do my bruises itch? No topic is off limits for the House Call Doctor—the newest addition to Macmillan’s Quick and Dirty Tips self-improvement franchise. Dr. Rob Lamberts practices full-time in his primary care private practice in the southeastern US. He is board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, and has doctored for the past 15 years. Lamberts’ recent involvement in the advocacy of electronic medical records has received national recognition and his popular medical blog, Musings of a Distractible Mind, was named one of Tara Parker-Pope’s “favorite medical blogs” in her New York Times Well blog.

With his trademark sense of humor and straightforward advice, Dr. Lamberts answers a wide variety of questions in this QDT podcast, mixing his extensive experience in the medical field with accessible advice that is both accurate and easy to understand. Filled with friendly and in-depth answers on listeners’ most pressing health issues, House Call Doctor offers progressive and innovative ways to look at medicine and the healthcare industry as a whole.

The House Call Doctor’s first series of podcasts will cover a wide range of health concerns and medical inquiries, including:

- What do I really need to know about cholesterol?
- How do I talk to my doctor about medical information I’ve found on the Internet?
- Where do bruises come from, and how can I get rid of them?
- What are the dangers of using popular pain relievers, such as Tylenol?
- What should I look out for to prevent the over use of antibiotics?

Dr. Lamberts’ expert tips will give listeners the tools they need to understand their bodies better and improve their health and quality of life. His goal with the House Call Doctor is to “make medical things easier to understand and hopefully to offer a little entertainment in the process.” As Dr. Lamberts says, “People want to understand their health, but unfortunately many of the explanations out there are either confusing or boring.”

Quick and Dirty Tips, known for both its friendly and informative style and its innovative digital content distribution, has already introduced fourteen fascinating experts on a variety of subjects to millions of fans via podcasts, audiobooks, and online interaction. Popular Quick and Dirty Tips shows include: Grammar Girl, Sales Guy, The Dog Trainer, and Money Girl.

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Grand Rounds is up at ACP Internist. This week they’re paying tribute to the daily newspaper. Click over for the latest headlines, opinions, features and even the funnies.

Also…

Change of Shift is up and hosted this time by Barbara over at Florence Dot Com. This week the theme is communication and, as always, you’ll find the week’s most outstanding posts from nursing and other medical bloggers. Do check it out.

Dean

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I’ve had several readers write to me over the years and ask my opinion on massage therapy and whether or not I thought it was effective for back pain relief.

Unfortunately, at the time I was unable to answer their questions as completely as I would have liked.

You see the problem with giving an opinion — or being able to recommend a therapy — is that there is quite often a lack of reliable information on the subject. Up until now, we’ve only had anecdotal evidence to suggest that massage therapy helped to reduce pain. And as you know, anecdotal evidence leaves plenty of room for doubt.

However, I recently ran across a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that finally lends some credibility to this very popular treatment method.

The study involved 380 adults with advanced cancer who were experiencing moderate-to-severe pain. The participants were divided into two groups. One group received six 30-minute massage treatments over two weeks from certified massage therapists, while the control group received an equal number of treatments utilizing simple touch performed by untrained individuals.

The Results

The good news is that both groups experienced immediate pain relief according to the report:

“Primary outcomes were immediate … and sustained … change in pain. Secondary outcomes were immediate change in mood …

[snip]

Both groups demonstrated immediate improvement in pain and mood …

[snip]

Massage was superior for both immediate pain and mood … ” [1]

Now, while this is good news, it should be noted that patients did not experience total pain relief from the treatments. Their pain was only reduced between 1 to 2 points on a 0 - 10 scale. This represents a significant improvement, but not total relief.

Also, this was not a blind study as noted here…

“Limitations: The immediate outcome measures were obtained by unblinded study therapists, possibly leading to reporting bias and the overestimation of a beneficial effect. The generalizability to all patients with advanced cancer is uncertain. The differential beneficial effect of massage therapy over simple touch is not conclusive without a usual care control group.” [1]

The report went on to conclude…

“Massage may have immediately beneficial effects on pain and mood among patients with advanced cancer. Given the lack of sustained effects and the observed improvements in both study groups, the potential benefits of attention and simple touch should also be considered in this patient population.” [1]

Herein Lies the Rub

Now perhaps you noticed that this study did not directly involve treatment for back pain. This is something that I happen to consider a plus rather than a negative.

After all, what’s significant about this study is that it was conducted on advanced cancer patients. These were people with real pain. There was little or no chance that their pain was psychosomatic in nature.

The same cannot be said about back pain or migraine headaches or any other form of pain where emotions or stress can influence the results. After all, the brain can play tricks on us.

And while one study is not enough to establish proof, and it was not a double-blind situation, and the patients did not receive total pain relief, the fact remains that the results were immediate and sustained for the short term.

Overall, I feel the positive outcomes from this study are encouraging.

Until next time,
Dean

References:

1. Kutner, JS. et all. Massage Therapy versus Simple Touch to Improve Pain and Mood in Patients with Advanced Cancer, A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 16 September 2008 | Volume 149 Issue 6 | Pages 369-379

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