Pain After Cancer

One person in five say that their pain persists at least 2 years after surviving cancer. Women in particular reported more pain flare-ups and more disability caused by pain and more depression due to pain.

Physicians who are more concerned with the side effects of pain medication should consider recommending pain management.

Happy Marriage Helps With Quality of Life

If you have a good marriage, you are more likely to enjoy a better quality of life and experience less pain from rheumatoid arthritis.

Research leader Jennifer Barsky Reese at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported that a "high-quality marriage ..seems to buffer a patient's emotional health."

Reese and her team questioned 255 adults with RA (average age of 55) about happiness in their marriage, interrogating them in such areas as finances, demonstrations of affection, sex, philosophy and interactions with in-laws.

All of this isn't surprising to psychoneuroimmunologist Nancy Klimas who asserts that you can "teach yourself to deal with pain and chronic disease." She feels that people do better with a supportive relationship. But that doesn't necessarily mean marriage--it could also mean a high-quality relationship between committed but unmarried partners.