TUESDAY, March 17, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Most current guidelines suggest that when seniors report new back pain to their primary care physician they should quickly be sent for diagnostic imaging, such as CT scans or MRIs.

But a new study suggests that early imaging may actually be a waste of both time and money.

"Older adults with back pain who seek care and get imaging within six weeks of their doctors visit for back pain do not have better outcomes than similar older adults who do not get early imaging," said study author Dr.

Description

For this procedure, a health care provider inserts a needle in the hip and injects medicine into the joint. The provider uses a real-time x-ray (fluoroscopy) to see where to place the needle in the joint.

You may be given medicine to help you relax.

For the procedure:

• You will lie on the x-ray table, and your hip area will be cleaned.
• A numbing medicine will be applied to the injection site.

THURSDAY, March 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- The painful and often debilitating arthritic condition known as gout may offer patients an unexpected bonus: a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease.

A new study finds that gout -- or the high uric acid level that drives the inflammatory condition -- may shield against the dementia.

"Our work shows the potential protective effect of a high level of uric acid and gout against the development of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Hyon Choi, a professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, allergy and immunology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

FRIDAY, Feb. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture for back pain is more likely to help people who believe the treatment will work, new research suggests.

The study included 485 people who received acupuncture for back pain and completed questionnaires before they began treatment, at two and three months into treatment, and then again at six months after treatment.

Patients who had low expectations of acupuncture before they began the therapy gained less benefit than those who believed it would work, according to the researchers at the University of Southampton in England.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Older patients with a broken hip are more likely to die after the fracture if they're discharged from the hospital early, a new study indicates.

"Our results suggest that the continuous efforts to decrease length of stay after major surgery is associated with higher mortality after hospital discharge," Peter Nordstrom, of Umea University in Sweden, and colleagues wrote.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 116,000 people aged 50 and older in Sweden who were admitted to the hospital with a broken hip between 2006 and 2012.

FRIDAY, Feb. 20, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- High doses of powerful narcotic painkillers appear to be linked to a higher risk of depression in patients, new research finds.

The study focuses on a class of prescription narcotic painkillers called opioids, which include drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin. While most people use the medicines to ease pain, widespread abuse of narcotic painkillers is also a growing concern.

The new study involved 355 patients in Texas who reported low back pain at an initial medical visit and still had the pain one and two years later.

MONDAY, Feb. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Working in an awkward position significantly increases the risk of developing low back pain, a new study finds.

Doing manual labor that involved awkward positions increased the risk of low back pain by eight times. Other significant risk factors included fatigue and being distracted during an activity. The risk of back pain was highest between 7 a.m. and noon, the Australian researchers found.

The findings were reported in the new issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

THURSDAY, Feb. 12, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- The number of hip replacements performed in the United States has increased substantially, and the procedure has become more common in younger people, new government statistics show.

The numbers reveal the rapid evolution of the procedure, which "remains one of the most dramatic and cost-effective ways to improve the quality of life for patients," said Dr. Mark Pagnano, chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"Recovery is dramatically easier for patients, the durability of hip replacements has improved, and the baby boomer generation is less willing to accept the limitations that accompany arthritis," added Pagnano, who was not involved in the study.