Police have blocked the Center of Dacca to prevent Muslim extremists from clashing with supporters of a woman writer. The writer Talisma Nasreen is in hiding. The Muslim extremists have threatened to kill her for proposing changes in Islamic law to give women equal rights. | 4. RELIEVING CHRONIC PAIN WITHOUT DRUGS Chronic pain - which may spring from an injury or a progressive disease is usually viewed as any pain that lasts longer than three months and often goes on for years. While potent drugs are often prescribed they aren t always the best way to relieve chronic pain. In one survey funded by a pharmaceutical company 44 percent of people with mild to moderate chronic pain continued to suffer while taking pain medication. Even when medicine does relieve pain it may dull concentration and disrupt sleep. What s more long-term use of nonsteroidal anti - inflammatory drugs NSAIDs which are sold over-the-counter or prescribed in stronger doses can cause serious illness. Today many leading chronic-pain clinics are encouraging patients to cope with pain using drug-free therapies. Treatments once considered offbeat1 such as biofeedback2 and meditation 3 are being used at major medical centers across the country offering new hope to the ten to thirty percent of Americans who suffer pain so debilitating4 it disrupts their lives. Modern medicine is a three-legged stool says Dr. Herbert Benson Associate Professor of medicine at Harvard. Drugs and surgery are two legs. The third is what people can do for themselves. Here s a rundown5 on some of the most promising drug-free treatments available to day. 111 Biofeedback. Some people react to stress by tightening head and face muscles which may result in tension headaches others dilate6 and constrict7 blood vessels which can cause migraines6. Biofeedback uses electronic feedback beeps and flashing lights from a machine to teach patients how to control those physical processes. Thermal biofeedback tells patients the skin temperature in their hands and is used mostly for migraines. Electromyographic9 biofeedback alerts patients to muscle strain and works especially well for tension headaches and for jaw neck and shoulder pain. Mindfulness Meditation. Chronic pain sufferers often tell themselves This .
