Article: In addition to the effects, benefits, dosing recommendations, and possible drug interactions of the specific natural supplements you plan on taking, you should also know some general information before buying supplements: Supplements are "natural," but they can still be potent substances capable of inducing considerable drug-like effects. Use reputable databases, such as the one provided by the U.S. National library of Medicine, to check herbal supplements for drug interactions. You can find this database here: https://medlineplus.gov/druginformation.html Herbal supplements can be toxic if taken in the wrong dosage, or if they interact with other medications or supplements. Supplement manufacturers are not required to run tests to prove the efficacy or safety of their products. You should always be careful with what supplements and dosages you take, but if you're pregnant, currently breastfeeding, or are taking other medications it's especially important to check with a medical professional. Supplements, like medications, can cause interactions with other meds or affect your baby. If you're about to have surgery, be sure to tell your doctor if you're taking supplements. Just like medicines, you might have to temporarily stop taking your supplements prior to a surgical procedure. Health claims about supplements generally apply to people between the ages of 18 and 65. If you're younger or older, be especially careful with supplements because they may react differently in your body. How herbal medicines and supplements are categorized and regulated varies from one country to another. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates natural products through the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). These safety regulations have no bearings on the same product sold in other countries. The FDA regulates supplements, but by different, less strict, standards than food and medications. Go to the library or search the internet to find out what organization is in charge of supplement safety in your region. Products made in the United States and Europe may be more closely regulated than other countries. Supplements made in China, India, and Mexico have been found to sometimes contain toxic material and prescription drugs. When possible, buy herbal supplements from the U.S. and Europe, even if that means shopping internationally. The claims that manufacturers make about their products are required to be based on evidence, but they do not have to get those claims evaluated by the FDA. Other than talking to your doctor or pharmacist, you can do your own research before using a particular supplement: Call the distributor or manufacturer directly to ask them questions about the supplement. They should have someone available who can answer your questions. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has a helpful website for shoppers, as does the Office of Dietary Supplements. Visits the websites for these agencies for consumer advice about using supplements safely. These websites also have a list of supplements that are being reviewed for safety; avoid using those supplements until they're proven safe. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) also provide helpful information for consumers.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Recognize safety concerns of using supplements. Be very careful taking supplements if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications. Understand who regulates supplements in your country. Do your own research about the supplements you take.
Article: The MPQ (also called the McGill pain index), is a scale of rating pain developed at McGill University in Canada in 1971. It's a written questionnaire that allows people in pain to give their doctors a good idea of the quality and intensity of pain they're feeling / experiencing. Patients basically choose descriptive words from different categories that best describes their pain. The MPQ is a well-validated measure of pain with extensive clinical research backing up it's relative accuracy. People can rate their pain in sensory terms (sharp or stabbing, for examples) and choose affective terms (sickening or fearful, for examples), so a doctor or therapist can review 15 total selected descriptors. Each selected descriptor is rated on a 4-point scale that ranges from none to severe, so the type and intensity of the pain can be better understood by health professionals. The BPI is a questionnaire used to measure pain developed by the Pain Research Group of the WHO Collaborating Center for Symptom Evaluation in Cancer Care. The BPI comes in 2 formats: the short form, which is used for clinical trials; and the long form, which contains additional descriptive items that may be useful to a doctor in a clinical setting. The main purpose of the BPI questionnaire is to assess the severity of a person's pain and the impact it has on their daily functions. The BPI questionnaire is best for people with pain from chronic diseases, such as cancer, osteoarthritis or low back pain. The BPI can also be used to assess acute pain, such as postoperative pain or pain from accidents and sports injuries. The main areas of assessment for the BPI include: location of pain, severity of pain, impact of pain on daily activities and response of pain levels to medication. The ODI is a numbered index derived from the Oswestry Low Back Pain questionnaire developed in 1980 and used by health care professionals and researchers to quantify disability caused by low back pain. The questionnaire contains 10 topics concerning pain intensity, sexual function, social life, sleep quality and the abilities to lift, sit, walk, stand, travel and care for yourself. The ODI is a 100-point scale derived from the questionnaire and considered the "gold standard" for measuring disability and estimating quality of life in people with lumbar spinal pain. The severity scores from the questions (ranging from 0-5) are added up and multiplied by two to obtain the index, which ranges from 0-100. Zero is considered no disability, whereas 100 is the maximum disability possible. ODI scores between 0-20 indicate minimal disability, whereas scores between 81-100 indicate either extreme disability (bed-bound) or exaggeration. The questionnaire is more accurate for people with acute (sudden) low back pain than it is for those with chronic (long term) back pain. The TOPS is the longest and most comprehensive survey for patients with chronic pain. The survey is designed to measure quality of life and function for a variety of causes of pain. The TOPS actually contains items from the BPI and ODI questionnaires, as well as questions on coping styles, fear avoidance beliefs, potential substance abuse, satisfaction levels of treatment and demographic variables. The full TOPS contains 120 items and is about as thorough of a questionnaire that measures pain that you'll come across. TOPS gives quantitative information on pain symptoms, functional limitations, perceived disability, objective disability, treatment satisfaction, fear avoidance, passive coping, solicitous responses, work limitations and life control. Because of the time it takes to fill out the TOPS, it may not be appropriate for people in severe pain.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Use the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Fill out the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) questionnaire. Use the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) questionnaire for low back pain. Consider the Treatment Outcomes of Pain Survey (TOPS) instead.