Research

Dr. Darnall is the principal investigator for several active research studies. Highlighted below are 3 of these studies.

Pain & the Mind-Body Connection

Three_stones Dr. Darnall’s research has shown that when women think and feel negatively about their pain, they express chemicals in their blood that are associated with inflammation. In other words, thinking and feeling negatively about pain can increase in your body the factors that contribute to the worsening of pain. The increase in inflammatory factors in the blood can be measured about 1.5 hours after we experience heightened stress. Now enrolling women 18-70 years of age for a current study! Click here to learn more.

“That which we focus on grows larger” - Beth Darnall, PhD

Negative thoughts can leave us feeling helpless and hopeless about our pain. The stress associated with such thoughts can trigger the release of chemicals in our blood that are associated with the worsening of pain (inflammation). Research (Dr. Darnall's and others) suggests that women's mind-body connection may be stronger, making it essential that women learn the techniques and tools to stay emotionally centered when faced with pain and stress, and to learn to decrease stress in their daily lives. Current and past sponsors of Dr. Darnall's research include:

American Pain Society "Future Leader in Pain Research"
Office of Research on Women's Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Oregon BIRCWH
The Medical Research Foundation of Oregon
ZRT Laboratories
N.L. Tartar Fellowship
The International Association for the Study of Pain

Home-based self-delivered mirror therapy for phantom pain

Mirror_therapy While mirror therapy has long known to be effective for treating phantom pain in amputees, Dr. Darnall’s research is showing that patients can treat themselves successfully in their own home! Self-treatment is convenient and means no more costly medical visits. She published the first case study to describe the efficacy of home-based self-delivered mirror therapy in 2009 (American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol 88 (1): 78-81). Her current pilot study provides participants with DVDs that explain the mirror therapy to them. Now, patients from all over the world can learn about mirror therapy and treat themselves. Dr. Darnall is Advisory Board Member to End the Pain Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global reduction and eradication of phantom pain. End the Pain Project is distributing 'toolkits' to amputees that contain:

Mirror therapy DVD
a one-page written explanation of the treatment
a mirror.

End the Pain Project is now implementing programs to deliver the toolkits to doctors and therapists in Vietnam and Cambodia. Haiti is our next target for End the Pain Project.

New grant received! The International Association for the Study of Pain just awarded Dr. Darnall and colleagues from Can Tho University a 2011 IASP Pain Education grant. The grant will allow Dr. Darnall to travel to Vietnam this Winter to deliver mirror therapy workshops to Vietnamese medical providers of amputees with phantom pain. This project is a partnership with HealthSaaS, a health technology company. HealthSaaS is providing online patient portals so we may track Vietnamese patient progress in the U.S. and help problem-solve pain-care issues across the globe.

Long term opioid treatment for chronic pain

The people who are most likely to be prescribed opioids may not be the ones with the highest pain intensity. Instead, Dr. Darnall’s research confirms what others have shown: opioids are linked best to levels of psychological distress. Click HERE to read her new study on opioid prescription for women with chronic pain. Findings suggest that non-opioid treatments may better address the distress component for women.

Opioids are great for short-term use. However, research has shown that long-term use of opioids is associated with many problems, including constipation, inflammation, poor sleep, depression, hormonal changes, and a worsening of pain. Dr. Darnall is focused on understanding the specific risks and consequences of long term opioid use, especially for women. It is important that patients have a good understanding of the risks of opioids before they start treatment. This is not happening right now. Most people are not told about all of the negative risks of these drugs before they are prescribed. Dr. Darnall is focusing on improving patient knowledge so that may they make truly informed decisions about their medical care.

Given that long-term opioid use is potentially rife with problems, it becomes even more important for patients to learn the techniques that decrease the need for pain medication.

Dr. Darnall’s OHSU research webpage.