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TNA Australia AGM 2023 – Information

Our Annual General Meeting will be held online on Saturday 1st April at 10.30am for Tasmania, Vic, ACT and NSW time; please adjust this time if you live in another state or territory – please check.

It is important to note a member can only vote if they are a current financial member.  You are required to login to your account to access the members library to “nominate a committee member” and for your vote in the “Special Resolution” to be valid.

The Zoom online link is highlighted below:

AGM Meeting Link

or post the below URL into your browser

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2034069450?pwd=dzl5UWNocFUzWm9SRXdnQmdk

In addition to the new committee of management being elected during the AGM, a significant agenda item is the ratification of the new revised Constitution by which the organisation will operate.

Our Constitution
Twenty years ago inaugural President, Irene Wood, wrote a Constitution to guide Trigeminal Neuralgia Association Australia and it enabled the organisation’s incorporation within NSW.

Two decades on, the world is a different place. The digital era has been consolidated and this means that our existing Constitution fails to recognise the changes. The existing Constitution does not meet all the requirements of a number of pieces of legislation, and in addition, it directs some very specific actions which our committee no longer wishes to make.

In the last half of 2022 a new Constitution was written that absorbed NSW legislation and regulations for Incorporated Associations, the requirements of the Australian Charities and Not Profit Commission (ACNC), and other federal legislative requirements.

Since the committee gave approval to the new Constitution, the document has been submitted for a legal opinion and we now know the revision is sound.

***********

Agenda for AGM – 1st April 2023

  • Call to order:

Attendees:

Apologies:

  1. Approval of minutes from the AGM of June 2022: TNA Australia AGM Minutes 2022
  2. The President’s report: AGM 2023 President's Report
  3. The Secretary Members Report: AGM 2023 Membership Report
  4. Treasurers report: AGM 2023 Treasurer Financial Report, AGM 2023 Financial Audit Report 2022
  5. Facebook report.
  6. Special Resolution *** a) TNAA Original Constitution 2002b) TNAA Updated Constitution 2023c) AGM Meeting 2023 Special Resolution
  7. Election of committee members
  8. Other Business

*** Special resolution proposed:
The members resolve that the revised Constitution be adopted as the Rules for Trigeminal Neuralgia Association Australia Incorporated

Please download the special resolution (c) and complete voting instructions

  • Meeting closed at:

Details of nominations to committee posts will be recorded below

  1. PRESIDENT
  2. VICE PRESIDENT
  3. SECRETARY
  4. TREASURER
  5. GENERAL COMMITTEE MEMBER X 4

please make your nominations through the nomination page see link below:

Nominate Your Committee

 

 

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Medical Cannabis and Chronic Pain

The last few years has seen some movement in thinking and research on whether medical cannabis and chronic pain management can work together.   However the  Australian Federal governments last update on the subject was in 2017

Medical Cannabis has been widely accepted by the medical professions in America however the subject is highly politicised and permitted usage is State based – see an article from the Facial Pain Association below

Read article here

The FPA produced two extensive articles in their Fall/Winter 2018 and Spring/Summer 2019 which contain a huge amount of information, although based around American laws, the content and issues are very relevant.

FPA Medical Cannabis Part 1 FPA Medical Cannabis Part 2

***

The Australian Government advise was issued in 2017  – see below for a portion of the advise.  The full article can be downloaded below

Medical Cannabis: Patient Information

Medicinal cannabis: patient information

Over the past few years, a number of Australians have expressed interest in the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. The Commonwealth and State and Territory governments have either used their current laws or passed specific laws to allow the prescribing and dispensing of medicinal cannabis products. The Commonwealth, and in some cases, State and Territory governments, have also passed laws allowing cannabis cultivation and manufacture for medicinal purposes.

Currently there is limited evidence about the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis for use in different medical conditions. There is also little known about the most suitable doses of individual cannabis products.

For a particular product to be registered on the ARTG, a sponsor (usually a company) would need to submit a dossier of evidence on the clinical efficacy, safety and manufacturing quality of a particular medicinal cannabis product to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. At this time, the Australian Government does not subsidise the cost of medicinal cannabis products through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The Australian Government Department of Health and the NSW, Victorian and Queensland state governments commissioned a team from the Universities of New South Wales, Sydney and Queensland under the co-ordination of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) to review the available clinical evidence for using medicinal cannabis. The team focused on the five areas for which the largest numbers of studies have been carried out – palliative care, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy in paediatric and adult patients.

The researchers conducted a review of previously published reviews from multiple databases such as Medline, Embase, PsychINFO and EBM Reviews. Searches were guided by a specialist Librarian using specific search terms and were limited to studies published between 1980 and early 2017. Two reviewers independently examined titles and abstracts for relevance and the GRADE (grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluation) approach to evaluating the quality of evidence was also applied. The GRADE[1] method is the international standard that applies to weighting of evidence in scientific and medical literature and gives weight to certain evidence based on the level of evidence and strength of recommendation. For example, evidence as a result of randomised control trials (RCTs) are given priority because this study method typically yields more reliable results. RCTs are at the top of the hierarchy of evidence.

This brochure provides a broad overview of the current evidence to support using medicinal cannabis for the above conditions. It also highlights the cautions surrounding treatment, how medicinal cannabis can be prescribed and future research.

The Department of Health will update this brochure as new evidence emerges.

***

There are companies who have invested in the business of providing Medical Cannabis in Australia.  These companies work within the guidelines of the laws governing the product.

An example is https://www.alternaleaf.com.au

Our mission is simple. We want to help people feel better.

We believe everyone should have the option to access natural alternatives over conventional medicines, and yet only 5% of Australian doctors are currently prescribing cannabis. We are here to help you get the right care so you can manage pain, anxiety, insomnia, mental health and other conditions, and live a better life. We are setting new standards in cannabis care by connecting thousands of Australians to qualified doctors and support you through our dedicated patient care team.

It is important to educate yourself on the subject and evaluate if Medical Cannabis could be of benefit to you, and always discuss your options with your primary medical practitioners.

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Mental Health Management

Mental health management is a key part of your care plan when dealing with chronic pain and the ensuring you achieve the best quality of life available.

Mental health is now recognised as a contributor to how badly pain can effect you.  Following a good management program will assist you in coping with bad days along with the good.

Mental health is more than just talking about mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression.

Research shows that good mental health is linked to:

  • improved learning
  • creativity
  • higher levels of productivity
  • better social relationships
  • good physical health
  • increased life expectancy

Beyond Blue have developed a tool called

The mental health continuum

It can be hard to talk about mental health. Maybe your family and friends feel uncomfortable talking about it. Maybe you don’t know where to start or how it relates to you.

We’ve developed the mental health continuum to help you talk about social and emotional wellbeing. It will give you the words to describe how you’re feeling, and to ask how others are feeling. It can also help you decide what steps to take to look after your mental health right now.

Review steps here

Make sure you sign up for  a Beyond Blue newsletters so you can keep upto date with information, ideas, research and most importantly help when you need it.

/https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

(World Health Organisation)

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in

 

 

 

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Feasibility of Olive Oil for Reducing Facial Pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia

STUDY Feasibility of Olive Oil for Reducing Facial Pain of trigeminal neuralgia.
Brief Summary:
This is a 16-week non-blinded, parallel, controlled trial to determine the feasibility and potential efficacy of an olive oil dietary intervention to alleviate facial pain caused by trigeminal neuralgia type 1 (TGN).
Detailed Description:

Trigeminal neuralgia (TGN) pain is debilitating and unpredictable. Alleviation of intensity or frequency to any degree will improve the quality of life of the individuals affected. Current medical treatments for TGN are often not effective. In some cases, the pain is a result of myelin degeneration. If diet can provide the basic building blocks for myelin regrowth, then the investigators may be able to reduce facial pain by supporting the myelin nerve sheath.

Animal studies have shown that a dietary intervention with olive oil favorably impacts myelin but no human study has been conducted to date. The investigators propose undertaking a feasibility study to determine if a comparable intervention may work in a similar way in humans. If olive oil impacts myelin repair, then pain will be decreased by this dietary intervention and quality of life will be improved. However, it is not known if individuals with TNG will be able to consume a diet relatively high in olive oil. Feasibility will include testing the logistics of distributing the olive oil intervention to the study subjects, incorporation of olive oil into the participants’ daily diets, and online/distance monitoring of compliance and reporting of pain intensity, pain frequency, and quality of life. This feasibility study will lay the groundwork for potential future studies examining the efficacy of olive oil on alleviating facial pain caused by TNG and may provide data for a power analysis for a future interventional trial.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05032573?id=NCT05032573+OR+NCT05217628&draw=2&rank=2&load=cart

Olive Oil Information 

Recognized for its’ abundant health benefits, olive oil is being chosen by many consumers as a preferred form of fat in diets and is being recommended by nutritionists and health professionals as one of the best alternative oils to traditional fats and oils. Olive oil has great diversity in how it can be used as an ingredient in recipes and as a food-enhancer.

Olive trees originated in Asia, but are more commonly know as an agricultural product in Mediterranean countries. Olive oil comes from the process of pitting, grinding, and pressing of the olive fruit.

In countries where olive is most highly consumed – Italy, Greece, and Spain, the incidences of cardiovascular disease is low and this is attributed the health benefits olive oil provides. One tablespoon of olive oil contains 120 calories and 14 grams of fat. However, the fat in olive oil is primarily monounsaturated which, when consumed can help reduce blood cholesterol levels leading to improved cardiovascular function.

Other Health Benefits of Olive Oil:

  • Olive oil is beneficial as an antioxidant since it contains high levels of vitamin E.
  • When consumed, olive oil promotes digestion, stimulates metabolism, and lubricates mucous membranes (olive oil contains vegetable mucilage that helps protect the gastrointestinal tract).
  • Olive oil can aid in relieving constipation. Consuming 1 teaspoon of olive oil with lemon juice (preferably on an empty stomach) can promote proper bowel movements.
  • Olive oil for skin therapy. Olive oil can be added to dry skin acting like a moisturizer and can also be applied to nails to increase nail strength and to promote healthy cuticles.

How to Choose Olive Oil:

  • Explore how you can replace butter, margarine, and low quality vegetable oils in your cooking especially in preparing salads, sautĂŠed dishes, and sauces.
  • Purchase olive oil that is labeled as“extra virgin”, which insures that the oil has been cold pressed. Cold pressed olive oil has been produced with freshly harvested olives and has gone through less processing and has not been degraded with heating or chemicals.
  • A good quality olive oil will be golden yellow in color versus lower quality olive oils that are light green in color.
  • Note: olive oil will congeal (form as a solid) in the refrigerator, but remains a liquid at room temperature.

When used in moderation, olive oil is a nutritious fat that promotes a great deal of health benefits. Like wines, olive oils will have differences in flavor depending on the region and producer of the oils. Olive oils can also be infused with herbs, garlic, peppers and other flavorful ingredients to add extra excitement to your dishes.

 

 

 

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Trigeminal Neuralgia Electronic Diary Trial

Noema Pharma announces completion of enrollment in the Trigeminal Neuralgia Electronic Diary (TNED) validation study

Study to validate the novel Patient-Reported Electronic Diary designed to more efficiently and accurately measure disease burden associated with trigeminal neuralgia

LIBRATN (NOE-101 Phase 2/3 study in Trigeminal Neuralgia) is on track to report top-line data in H1 2024

BASEL, Switzerland/ Boston, MA, September 6, 2022 – Noema Pharma, a clinical-stage biotech company targeting debilitating central nervous system (CNS) indications,today announces it has completed participant enrollment and data collection in the validation study of a novel Trigeminal Neuralgia Electronic Diary (TNED). The results will be presented at a scientific meeting and published in a specialized peer-reviewed journal.

The TNED validation study was conducted in two leading centers in the US and Europe, the result of a collaboration between University College London Hospitals UCLH/UCL in the UK, the Kaizen Brain Center in the US, the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association UK, and Noema Pharma. Thirty participants with a confirmed diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) volunteered to complete the electronic diary. The diary,which was completed daily, includes a self-assessment of the different aspects of their condition; frequency and severity of intermittent attacks, also known as “flare-ups”, the duration of associated continuous pain when present, and the impact of these attacks on personal, social, and professional functioning. While the analysis of the validation data is ongoing, the electronic diary was generally found to be easy to use and enabled participants to accurately describe the burden of trigeminal neuralgia (TN).

“The TNED is a better alternative to the conventional paper-and-pencil method that is used to report the different aspects of facial pain,” said Professor Joanna Zakrzewska Principal Investigator of the LIBRA trigeminal neuralgia study at UCLH/UCL. “In addition to being patient friendly and easy to use, TNED is the first electronic diary designed specifically for people who suffer from TN. It measures different aspects of the condition and will allow regular measurement of the different aspects of the condition. In addition to being an excellent research tool for TN clinical studies, TNED can be used by patients with TN in clinical practice as a reliable tool to communicate symptom severity and frequency to their health care provider leading to improved quality of care as it enables assessment of the timing of flare ups and the efficacy of medication.”

“It’s very exciting to have completed the recruitment of the TNED validation study. This research tool is very well received by patients with TN, easy to use, and has the potential of becoming a routine activity with minimal burden on patients. We see great potential for the TNED to become a state-of-the-art research tool to be used in all TN clinical trials, including Noema’s LIBRATN,” said George Garibaldi, President and Head of Research and Development at Noema Pharma. “Treatment options are scarce in TN with only one treatment that was approved over 50 years ago. We believe that patients suffering from TN deserve the benefit of the latest innovations and discoveries. Through the TNED, Noema is making a significant contribution to research in this field.”T

TN, also called “tic douloureux”, is a chronic severe pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from the face to the brain. TN is a form of neuropathic pain, associated with nerve injury or a nerve lesion. New cases of TN affect 4 to 5 of every 100,000 people in the United States each year.

Noema is investigating the effect of NOE-101 (basimglurant), a highly selective, potent, and cell-penetrant negative allosteric modulator of mGlu5 receptors for the management of pain associated with TN. It was effective in controlling pain in multiple animal models predictive of a therapeutic effect in neuropathic pain. The currently ongoing placebo-controlled clinical study named LIBRATN (NCT05217628) aims to recruit up to 200 participants in centers across Europe and the U.S. Top-line data from the study is expected in H1 2024. 

About Noema Pharma
Noema Pharma (www.noemapharma.com) is a clinical-stage Biotech company targeting debilitating central nervous system (CNS) indications characterized by imbalanced neuronal networks. The company is actively developing three mid-clinical-stage therapeutic product candidates in-licensed from Roche. Basimglurant, an mGluR5 inhibitor, is Phase 2b-ready for two indications: persistent seizures in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and severe pain in Trigeminal Neuralgia. Gemlapodect, a PDE10A inhibitor, is currently enrolling a Phase 2a clinical trial in patients with Tourette Syndrome.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT05217628?term=Noema+Pharma&draw=2&rank=2

The Company has completed validation studies and is pursuing the development of NOE-115 in Behavioral Metabolic Cluster disorders. It is also planning to develop NOE-109 an mGluR2/3 inhibitor, in undisclosed indications. Noema Pharma was founded in 2020 by the leading venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners. Investors include Polaris Partners, Gilde Healthcare, Invus and Biomed Partners.

Contacts 

Noema Pharma
Luigi Costa
Chief Executive Officer
info@noemapharma.com

Investors
LifeSci Advisors – Guillaume van Renterghem
gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors.com
+41 (0) 76 735 01 31 

Media
LifeSci Advisors – Bernhard Schmid
bschmid@lifesciadvisors.com
+41 (0) 44 447 12 21

 

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FPA – New Life for Cancer Drug

New life for cancer drug that reprograms pain pathway to fight chronic pain

Chronic pain associated with nerve injury and chronic bone pain from metastatic cancer are unmet medical needs. This sober sentence vastly understates the crushing and devastating impact of these forms of pain on victims’ lives, their families, and their social and professional lives.

“I just can not sleep any more because turning in bed hurts, my spine hurts lying down, and sitting up to sleep hurts even more. During daytime, I have constant brain fog, interrupted by pain that within minutes gets worse (10-out-of-10) against a background of constant burning pain which gets worse toward the afternoon and evening. I hurt more when I go to the bathroom. The pain medication makes my brain fog worse, I feel like a zombie, I am badly constipated and itch all over.” That is how a patient with bone cancer pain feels. Testimony from victims of chronic nerve injury pain, through peripheral nerve damage from diabetes or medications, or in the aftermath of shingles, indicates that their lives are equally turned upside down from the pain.

New treatments against pain are needed. What is the desired profile ? “New drugs and other therapies against chronic pain need to be safe, i.e the fewer side effects the better, especially non-addictive and non-sedative, and effective. For example they should work against nerve injury pain and cancer pain, finally and practically, with minimal time to official drug approval. “Since chronic pain, like many chronic diseases, has an important root in genetic switches being reprogrammed in a ‘bad’ way, a disease-modifying treatment for chronic pain should reset the genetic switches, not just cover up the pain as with opioid and aspirin/tylenol-like painkillers,” says Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke, who practiced pain medicine for the last 17 years at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, USA, and directed the former Liedtke-Lab to elucidate basic pain mechanisms. Dr. Liedkte moved to an executive position at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown NY, in April 2021.

Liedtke’s Duke team, jointly with colleagues from University of California Irvine, tackled the problem by starting with a collection of “junkyard of cancer drugs”, 1,057 compounds originating from two Compound Libraries of the National Cancer Institute. Liedtke picked cancer drugs because a sizeable number of them influence epigenetic regulation of genes, which stops rapidly dividing cancer cells from dividing, but can reset maladaptive genetic switches in non-dividing nerve cells. In order to identify useful candidate anti-pain drugs from this starting pool, Liedtke’s team devised a screening method that relied on brain nerve cells from genetically-engineered mice that were “knockin” for a convenient reporter gene system so that compounds that enhance expression of an anti-pain target gene would generate a bio-luminescent signal which can be readily measured, allowing 1,057 compounds to be tested.

The selected anti-pain target gene was Kcc2 which encodes a chloride extruding transporter molecule, KCC2. KCC2 churns out chloride from nerve cells, low chloride means strong function of inhibitory neurotransmission, also in pain pathways, thus silencing the pain signal, or not allowing it to break through. In essentially all forms of chronic pain studied in experimental animals and also human spinal cord models, KCC2 disappears from the primary pain gate in the dorsal spinal cord. Liedtke’s team identified 137 first-round winners, i.e Kcc2 gene expression-enhancers, which then were retested iteratively, with a yield of four final co-winners. Kenpaullone was selected for work-up because the compound had a strong record of protecting nerve cells in human ALS models, also hearing and brain neurons from damage. In mice, Kenpaullone functioned effectively against pain caused by nerve constriction injury and by cancer cells seeding in the femur. Pain relief was profound, long lasting and with protracted onset, indicative of Kenpaullone impacting gene regulation.

Says Liedtke “At this stage, we knew we had met the basic requirement of our screen of shelved cancer drugs, namely identified Kcc2 gene expression-enhancers, and demonstrated that they are analgesics in valid preclinical pain models.” Thus encouraged, Liedtke’s team addressed whether Kenpaullone affected spinal cord processing of pain, with affirmative findings, then whether the pain-relaying nerve cells in the dorsal spinal cord can lower their elevated chloride, caused by nerve injury, by Kenpaullone treatment – again with resoundingly affirmative results. This was great news and prompted the investigators to query how exactly Kenpaullone works in nerve cells so that the Kcc2 gene is expressed stronger.

They discovered the underlying signaling mechanism, a key element of it completely new. Kenpaullone inhibits the kinase GSK3-beta which adds phosphate tags to other proteins which in turn switches their function powerfully. They found that the kinase target of GSK3beta is delta-catenin, delta-cat, which when phosphorylated is tagged for the cellular garbage bin. That means that chronic pain, via activation of GSK3-beta leads to loss of delta-cat in pain relaying neurons. What is the original function of delta-cat in relation to pain relay, and in relation to gene expression of Kcc2 ?  Liedtke’s team found that non-phosphorylated delta-cat transfers into the cell’s nucleus and binds to the Kcc2 gene’s DNA in its promoter region, where it switches back on the switched-off Kcc2 gene. To prove the relevance of this pathway for pain, they devised a gene-therapeutic approach so that phosphorylation-resistant delta-cat becomes the payload of an AAV9 gene-therapy viral vector, which infects spinal cord dorsal horn neurons. Injection of this gene therapy vector into the cerebrospinal fluid of mice was similarly analgesic as Kenpaullone.

These findings suggest that Kenpaullone and similarly-acting kinase-inhibitory compounds, also delta-cat gene therapy can become new tools in our toolbox against chronic “refractory” pain, also caused by nerve injury, also caused by cancer bone pain, likely against other forms of chronic pain where Kcc2 is not expressed well (trigeminal pain), and possibly other neurologic and psychiatric disorders where this mechanism appears to contribute to disease.

Amidst Duke co-authors, 1st author Dr. Michele Yeo successfully elucidated basic regulation of the Kcc2 gene together with Liedtke for more than a decade and ran the 1,057 compound screen, co-first author Dr. Yong Chen provided skillful animal experimentation, and co-senior author Dr. Ru-Rong Ji (Director of Translational Pain Research) and his team covered dedicated assessment of spinal cord relay mechanisms. Collaboration with Dr Jorge Busciglio’s laboratory at UC Irvine was key to validate human relevance of Kenpaullone.

Summary Figure
Upper right “Junkyard of cancer” drugs were screened, akin to sieving through sand, looking for gold nuggets. Kenpaullone was identified as a “winner”, capable of switching on the Kcc2 gene, which previous research predicted to be beneficial for chronic pain.
Upper left Nerve injury pain and bone cancer pain are serious and pressing unmet medical needs. Preclinical models were used totest Kenpaullone which proved to be highly effective in both.
Middle panels, left-hand Nerve injury by constriction or cancer cells populating a bone activates GSK3ß, an enzyme that tags other proteins with phosphate. In nerve cells dedicated to pain relay in the spinal cord, GSK3ß tags d-catenin
(d-CAT), which routs d-CAT to the cellular garbage bin. Without d- CAT in the cells’ nucleus, the Kcc2 gene remains switched off. This in turn makes the pain relay neurons run full of chloride which makes them electrically more jittery, with chronic “refractory” pain a result.
Right-hand panel Treatment with Kenpaullone inhibits GSK3b’s phosphate-tagging capability, so that d-CAT becomes untagged, which clears the way to the nerve cells’ nucleus. There it binds to the DNA region of the Kcc2 gene critical for switch-on or switch-off, the promoter. By binding there, d- CAT reverts the switch-off to switch-on and the Kcc2 gene is running again, making KCC2 protein. KCC2 in turn pumps chloride ions out of the pain-relay nerve cells, making them electrically more stable. This leads to circuit repair and pain relief, based on resetting of the genetic switches. Instead of Kenpaullone, d-CAT can serve as payload of a gene therapy approach that directs expression of d-CAT and hence KCC2 to pain relay nerve cells in the spinal cord.

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PEA to reduce Chronic Inflammation

Many of our members use PEA to reduce chronic inflammation and to help with the repair of the myeline sheath and reduce pain. PEA is known by many names including palmitoylethanolamide and palmidrol. PEA is a fatty acid molecule known as a cannabinoid, which is naturally produced in the human body in response to pain […]
To access this post, you must purchase TNA Australia Full Member.
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NET Therapy – Chronic Pain Management

The following article was written by a practitioner in America but there are many chiropractors trained in this therapy in Australia.  This type of therapy does not appear to have research papers that provide conclusive scientific evidence.  However when a therapy is created around an individual and their particular needs, it is difficult to set control values.

This therapy was developed in the 1980’s.  Since that time, many medical practitioners acknowledge that mental health, emotional wellbeing and the nervous system all need to be evaluated when creating a pain management plan.

NET Therapy With Dr. Mary Lou Rane: Recover and Heal Today

As an integrative health expert with a Ph.D. in nutrition and certification in Neuro Emotional Technique, Dr. Mary Lou Rane has worked with countless patients in healing their limiting beliefs and inner pains for over the last 30 years.

So many of us live with unexplained pain, tension, and stress for years without ever truly dealing with them. We learn to live with these burdens, letting them weigh us down in everything we do. This stops us from reaching our full potential and living our best lives, and no amount of medication or trips to the doctor seem to help.

Neuro Emotional Technique Therapy or NET Therapy tackles these unknown pains and stresses by dealing with the root emotional and physiological cause in the body. With NET Therapy, patients find themselves healed from headaches, general anxiety, body pains, self-sabotaging habits, and more, in a simple yet effective session that determines emotional and stress responses through muscle testing and tracing back the true root of your emotional stress.

Read on to learn more about what you can expect from an NET Therapy session.

What is NET?

NET or Neuro Emotional Technique is a type of therapy which focuses on healing the body and its stress-related responses by targeting the physiological foundations of those conditions.

Emotional responses have physiological foundations in the form of amino acid chains that are carried throughout the body. NET Therapy deals with these physiological components of our most stress-inducing and traumatic experiences, helping the mind and body heal from these experiences permanently.

Impactful or traumatic negative emotions and experiences leave behind these physiological marks on the body. These can impair both the mind and the body from ever truly healing, thus leaving you with unexplained stressors or physical pains until these emotions are addressed. Neuro Emotional Technique addresses what is known as the Neuro Emotional Complex, or NEC, the emotional imprints crippling your physiological function.

Simply put, NET treats stress-related physical and mental conditions by tracing them back to their physiological location in the body, and working on them there. When paired with other healing therapies, NET helps patients get over any existing psycho-emotional blocks, which are residue from traumatic past events. These blocks prevent the body from truly healing from any conditions it may be experiencing, as well as further aggravating existing conditions.

For more detailed information about Neuro Emotional Technique, I wrote I whole piece that includes a brief history of NET.

Key Benefits of NET: Why You Would Want It

How do you know when NET might be beneficial for you? Again, NET is best for those dealing with stored long-term emotional trauma, as NET helps patients release that trauma (or neuro-emotional complexes) and allow their body and mind to physically and psychologically heal.

Here are some warning signs that you may be experiencing stored traumas in the form of neuro-emotional complexes:

  • You have unexplained shoulder tension and headaches
  • You often feel overwhelmed
  • You burst out in tears at times
  • Your digestive system isn’t as reliable as it once was
  • You often experience exhaustion or fatigue
  • You have little to no motivation to engage in activities you were once passionate about
  • You have tons of unexplained physical discomfort or pain

Various studies have proven the effectiveness of Neuro Emotional Technique Therapy. Patients who undergo NET Therapy can expect improvements in conditions like:

  • Headaches
  • General anxiety
  • Self-sabotaging habits
  • Body pains
  • Organ dysfunctions
  • Phobias

But NET Therapy helps in more ways than just the physical. With NET, patients experience a variety of psycho-emotional benefits, such as:

  • Unlocking and reprogramming the subconscious to recover from any psycho-emotional blocks
  • Promoting your own understanding of what you need in relationships, allowing you to develop and maintain more fulfilling relationships with your friends and family
  • Understanding the sources of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back in your subconscious, and unraveling them from the inside out
  • Correcting any neurological imbalances caused by unresolved stress and its physiological effects, leading to significant reduction on stress, anxiety, and phobias

Patients who experience successful NET Therapy by proven professionals find themselves feeling renewed and revitalized, as if the weights on their shoulders have finally been removed. This gives patients a greater ability to live out the life they want to live and achieve their true purpose.

What To Expect During the NET Session: Step-By-Step Breakdown

So what exactly happens during the typical NET Therapy session, and what can you expect during this session as a patient?

While the small details may vary from practitioner to practitioner, the typical NET Therapy session begins with muscle testing, which is also known as manual muscle testing or applied kinesiology. Muscle testing is a method to uncover muscular, structural, and mental conditions. An easy way to understand muscle testing is to refer to the third Law of Motion: “For every action there is an equal opposing reaction.”

Muscle testing applies this idea to ailments afflicting the human body. This concept indicates that internal issues and stressors naturally lead to a muscle weakness. Through muscle testing, practitioners can locate where these issues may be by linking them with the meridian system found in traditional Eastern medicine, which finds the paths between various parts of the bodies.

The session begins with muscle testing and the NET idea of emotions and their specific physiological effects on the body to trace the patient’s exact stressor. For example, a patient may come in with a sore left knee that she had been dealing with for months with no known cause. This may be a sign of a NEC (Neuro-Emotional Complex).

The practitioner will use reflex points on the body to try to link the knee pain with any stress and tension that the body is holding onto. The patient will also be asked if they have any current problem or source of stress, whether at work, home, or with their relationships. Once this problem is identified, the practitioner will find a certain statement around the topic to make their tested muscle go weak.

In practice, this works with the practitioner asking the patient to raise their arm, and the practitioner pushing it down with their hand; this is to test the strength of the muscle. This is repeated several times as the practitioner goes through various statements, looking for the issue that may be causing the patient stress.

For women, one common issue is the feeling that they’re not enough — not enough as a mother, as a partner, as a friend, or as a woman. For this issue, the patient is challenged by being asked to say statements like, “I am a loving mother”, “I am fine just the way I am”, “I am beautiful enough and good enough as me”, all while muscle testing is applied.

This is repeated until a certain statement is found that causes the arm (or whichever muscle being tested) to fail. Once this occurs, the practitioner uses NET to find the emotions associated with that specific statement by linking that emotion to their pain or other symptoms.

Finally, the NET practitioner works with the patient to find the exact painful moment in their past where that negative emotion and limiting belief was created. With NET Therapy, these stuck emotions become slowly released, allowing the patient to recover from these limiting beliefs and heal from these long-term stressors.

 

https://www.netmindbody.com/more-information/what-is-net/

Australian content

https://www.netmindbody.com/more-information/what-is-net/

Research Paper

Stress reduction via neuro-emotional technique

 

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For people with chronic pain, flexibility and persistence can protect wellbeing

Chronic pain affects around one in five people and is considered “chronic” when it persists beyond the expected healing time, typically three months or longer.

Along with physical problems, chronic pain can impact a person’s daily activities, employment, lifestyle and mental health.

Doing things you love and having goals are fundamental for wellbeing because they give meaning and purpose. But pain can make doing the activities you enjoy psychologically, physically and/or emotionally very challenging.

Our new research shows the way a person with chronic pain responds to not being able to participate in the activities or goals they value can can impact their mental wellbeing – even more so than their pain levels.

Pain intensity vs interference

We surveyed more than 300 people living chronic pain (that wasn’t related to cancer) about their mental wellbeing, “pain intensity” and how much pain interfered with the everyday pursuits and activities that mattered to them.

(We differentiated chronic pain from cancer pain due to the differing prognoses and treatments available, and the unique psychological and social factors associated with cancer pain, such as concern about death.)

We found pain that disrupted daily life activities, rather than the intensity of the pain, posed the biggest threat to a person’s mental wellbeing.

When pain interferes with a person’s engagement in meaningful daily activities, it causes distress and decreases wellbeing.

Man's hands with arthritis
Pain stops some people doing the things they find meaningful, like going to work. Unsplash/Towfiqu Barbhuiy 

The research suggests it’s possible for people to find ways to maintain their mental wellbeing, even when their pain intensity is high, so long as they’re able to maintain aspects of life that are important to them, such as relationships and work.

People with pain find other ways of doing things

We found personal motivational traits – specifically, goal flexibility (adjusting goals in response to changing circumstances and setbacks) and tenacity (persistently striving to achieve a desired goal under difficult circumstances) – were associated with increases in mental wellbeing for people living with chronic pain.

Although flexibility and persistence were both associated with increased mental wellbeing, the capacity to flexibly adjust to setbacks or obstacles had the most significant positive effect in maintaining one’s mental wellbeing.


Read more: 1 in 5 Aussies over 45 live with chronic pain, but there are ways to ease the suffering


Flexibility appears to act as a protective factor against the impacts of pain interference on mental wellbeing, to a greater extent than personal tenacity or persistence.

There is often more than one way to modify or adapt an activity when difficulties arise. A walk on the beach with friends, for instance, may be adjusted to meeting at the beach for coffee to fulfil the same goal or value: social connectedness.

Focusing on people’s strengths rather than deficits

Psychological processes that can help people to live well in the face of long-term pain have long been overlooked. Research has traditionally focused on unhelpful thought processes that perpetuate or exacerbate mental distress. For example, pain catastrophising and repeated negative self-criticism.

Pain management and mental health are multi-faceted. Previous research has shown pain management should take into account physical factors (age, sleep, injury, disease) and social factors (employment, social support, economic factors).

Older man with walking stick walks next to small white dog
Research has tended to focus on the negative thought processes of people with chronic pain, rather than the positive. Shutterstock

Our findings add to this body of knowledge. For those living with pain, reappraising and adjusting meaningful life activities and goals, when needed, in response to setbacks or life challenges can help maintain mental wellbeing.

These findings can inform the development of psychological supports for people with chronic pain. In turn, these supports could identify internal strengths, resources, positive coping strategies, self-efficacy, hope and wellbeing – and promote psychological strengths rather than deficits.

Read more: Why we need to get creative when it comes to talking about pain


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Members Survey 2022

Last year 2022, we created a members survey in order for our Association to better understand what opinions our membership held, regarding the support we offer.

We gratefully acknowledge all of the responders who took the time to complete the survey and your views help us to create,  design and offer future support programs.

The survey was conducted using our online marketing partner MailChimp and we were learning the process as this was a new platform for us.

We acknowledge the help of a wonderful volunteer Kat Pummell who analysed the results and created this  report

Survey Insights 2022

New members who have joined since we published the survey can get involved by using the link HERE

 

 

 

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