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New research offers a possible way to tell apart two conditions with similar symptoms. One disorder is chronic fatigue syndrome. The other is neurologic post-treatment Lyme disease. This is a set of symptoms that linger after the infection that caused Lyme disease is treated. People with both conditions feel fatigue. Many also say they have problems with thinking. The new study included 43 people with chronic fatigue and 25 with lingering Lyme disease. They were compared with 11 healthy people. Researchers looked at spinal fluid from everyone. In people with chronic fatigue, they found 738 proteins in spinal fluid that were not found in the other groups. People with lingering Lyme disease had 692 proteins not found in the other groups. This is the first time that body substances have been found to distinguish between the two conditions.

In a new study, people who got spinal fusion surgery had much poorer health results than those who got other treatments for back pain. The study looked at workers’ compensation records. Everyone had back pain as a result of on-the-job injuries. Researchers randomly selected 725 people who had spinal fusion surgery. They compared this group with 725 people who had treatments such as exercise and physical therapy. Two years after treatment, the spinal fusion group had worse results in every way. About one-quarter had returned to work, compared with two-thirds of the other group. Disability was permanent for 11%, compared with 2% of the non-surgery group. Nearly 85% of those who got surgery were still taking narcotic pain relievers. The rate was 49% for the other group. The surgery group also had far more related medical problems and lost work days.

A drug for chest pain may also help osteoporosis, new research suggests. The study included 243 women. All of them had passed menopause. They were andomly assigned to use either nitroglycerin ointment or a placebo (fake). They spread the ointment on part of the upper arm each night. The study lasted 2 years. By the end, women who used the nitroglycerin had increases in bone density compared with those who got the placebo. The increases were 6.7% in the spine, 6.2% in the hip and 7% at the top of the thigh bone. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it February 22.