From Nancy Sajben, MD
who notes “NPR wrongly implies that opioids help function but that has never been shown.”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/06/22/155445980/when-patients-with-fibromyalgia-try-marijuana
To Dr. Sajben:
I don’t see any reference to opioids in the NPR item. Was it in the article by Ste-Marie (which I can’t afford to order from Wiley)? He sounds like a real Peter:
“There’s been some benefit shown for the outcome measure of pain,” researcher Peter Ste-Marie tells Shots. But if a treatment doesn’t allow someone to get back to the pattern of their normal life, Ste-Marie says, it’s not a long-term solution. “There’s a possible negative there as well. It’s one thing to diminish the pain a little, but it’s a whole different ballgame if it doesn’t also improve [patients’] function.”
If one is in pain —as you know 1000x better than me— “to diminish the pain a little” means a lot! Dr. S-M dismisses it as inconsequential if functionality is not restored.
I always wince when someone uses the word “game” in reference to serious affairs. As in S-M saying “it’s a whole new ballgame” if mj doesn’t restore function. Ballgame?
What ballgame?
On the other hand, I love Buffy Ste-Marie… When I ran a coffeehouse for GIs in the ’60s, her singing “The Universal Soldier” was sort of our closing-time themesong.
Fred
