syrinx

They've brought migraine studies into the 21st century now, with the new innovative LogPad(R) System!
That's right, folks! The innovative folks at "PHT Corporation, the market-leading provider of electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) solutions" have teamed up "to help headache experts at Clinvest Clinical Research measure cognitive deficits during migraine attacks in a sponsored clinical trial."

Forward-thinking technology providers such as Clinvest and PHT enable scientific researchers to ask new and exciting questions ... In prior research with a U.S. military computerized testing system, Clinvest founder Roger K. Cady, MD, realized his migraine patients did not have the same cognitive processing speed as non-sufferers. Dr. Cady believed the changes in migraine patients resulted from dysfunction in the speed of the brain's ability to process information, i.e., cognitive processing efficiency.

Yeah, something about an overwhelming sensation of pain that reduces your cognitive processing speed. What an insight. Something someone who has had experience with migraines, even the occasional as opposed to the chronic, might call a "no-brainer."
But the study itself, with the 500 patients, isn't totally bogus. The device will be used to collect data in real-time during the study:

The trial examines the effect of barbiturates on pain, mental alertness, cognitive efficiency, and fine motor function for six months. As patients use PHT's LogPad to report on migraine occurrence, duration and severity, they are given electronic tests to measure their ability to perform simple calculations and react appropriately to stimuli. They also assess their quality of sleep.

Interesting bit of research news and the results of the study should be of interest, especially to people who might be prescribed the drugs being researched. But it won't tell us anything about the causes of the symptoms, nor will it tell us much about the effects of chronic pain, although it might tell us something about the effect of chronic pain on cognitive functioning, if the data are teased and tortured well enough.
But a great piece of PR advertising for PHT and the LogPad(tm).

tags: migraine news pr cynicalhumor