CONTACT: Jennifer Forbes
Communications & Public Affairs
732-235-6356, jenn.forbes@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Physicians Seeking Participants for Study on Acupuncture as Potential Treatment for Thalamic Pain Syndrome
New Brunswick, NJ – Chronic pain can be debilitating. It interferes with everyday activities, even non-taxing undertakings such as sleep. For sufferers of thalamic pain syndrome, an often disabling pain on one side of the body resulting from damage to a part of the brain called the thalamus, relief through use of pharmaceuticals or invasive procedures can be short-lived. Physicians in New Jersey are hoping to offer an alternative to patients with thalamic pain syndrome in a new study that will determine if acupuncture may be a helpful treatment. They are now recruiting patients to participate in the study.
“Despite its recognition more than 100 years ago, there is no effective treatment for thalamic pain syndrome,” said Karen W. Lin, MD, MS, associate professor of family medicine and community health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and principal investigator of the study. “Through acupuncture, this study may help us to determine if the brain can be retrained to focus on an external stimulation, thereby ignoring the chronic pain caused by thalamic pain syndrome.”
A condition that can develop following a stroke in the thalamus which controls the body’s sensory information, thalamic pain syndrome may be characterized by widespread pain, tingling or hypersensitivity to touch that can’t be attributed to other causes. Pain can be useful to the body, indicating the need to escape danger. However, despite the difficulty of living with chronic pain, thalamic pain syndrome, which generally appears weeks to months after a stroke, poses no imminent danger. During the study, the researchers will attempt to retrain the thalamus to focus on the acupuncture needles as the true source of stimulation, thereby limiting the brain’s reaction to the pain of thalamic pain syndrome.
Individuals who have been diagnosed with thalamic pain syndrome and who wish to be study participants may contact Dr. Lin at 732-235-7667 or Eric Altschuler, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and co-investigator of the study, at 973-972-5439.
Potential study participants will be asked for a medical history and receive a physical exam. The study investigators will review their CT scans and MRIs to confirm the diagnosis of thalamic pain syndrome. Qualifying participants will receive acupuncture twice a week for four weeks administered by Dr. Lin. There is no cost to study participants and participants will not be paid for their participation.
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School became part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey on July 1, 2013.
About Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
As one of the nation's leading comprehensive medical schools, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. In cooperation with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school's principal affiliate, they comprise New Jersey's premier academic medical center. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 20 basic science and clinical departments, and hosts centers and institutes including The Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students on its campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway, and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visit rwjms.rutgers.edu. Find us online at facebook.com/RWJMedicalSchool and twitter.com/RWJMS.
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