The authors concluded that "although the findings provide support for the general applicability of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain, considerably more research will be needed to fully determine the effects of hypnosis for different chronic-pain conditions." Alternative medicine
An analysis of the 13 highest quality studies of pain treatment with acupuncture, published in January 2009, concluded there was little difference in the effect of real, faked and no acupuncture. However, more recent reviews have found some benefit. Additionally, there is tentative evidence for a few herbal medicines. There has been some interest in the relationship between vitamin D and pain, but the evidence so far from controlled trials for such a relationship, other than in osteomalacia, is inconclusive.For chronic (long-term) lower back pain, spinal manipulation produces tiny, clinically insignificant, short-term improvements in pain and function, compared with sham therapy and other interventions. Spinal manipulation produces the same outcome as other treatments, such as general practitioner care, pain-relief drugs, physical therapy, and exercise, for acute (short-term) lower back pain. Epidemiology
Pain is the main reason for visiting an emergency department in more than 50% of cases, and is present in 30% of family practice visits. Several epidemiological studies have reported widely varying prevalence rates for chronic pain, ranging from 12 to 80% of the population. It becomes more common as people approach death.
False positives include other conditions with fatty infiltration of the ventricle, such as long-term excessive alcohol use and Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy. False negatives are common, however, because the disease progresses typically from the epicardium to the endocardium (with the biopsy sample coming from the endocardium), and the segmental nature of the disease. Also, due to the paper-thin right ventricular free wall that is common in this disease process, most biopsy samples are taken from the ventricular septum, which is commonly not involved in the disease process. A biopsy sample that is consistent with ACM would have > 3% fat, >40% fibrous tissue, and <45% myocytes. A post mortem histological demonstration of full thickness substitution of the RV myocardium by fatty or fibro-fatty tissue is consistent with ACM. Genetic testing
ACM is an autosomal dominant trait with reduced penetrance. Approximately 40–50% of ACM patients have a mutation identified in one of several genes encoding components of the desmosome, which can help confirm a diagnosis of ACM. Since ACM is an autosomal dominant trait, children of an ACM patient have a 50% chance of inheriting the disease-causing mutation. Whenever a mutation is identified by genetic testing, family-specific genetic testing can be used to differentiate between relatives who are at-risk for the disease and those who are not. ACM genetic testing is clinically available. Diagnostic criteria
There is no pathognomonic feature of ACM. The diagnosis of ACM is based on a combination of major and minor criteria.