EAST LANSING, Mich. — Karen Ogle is a Michigan State University physician whose professional mission is to relieve pain. So much so that she is one of the driving forces behind a new Web site developed to help people suffering from cancer pain and those who support them. 

Located at www.mipain.org, the site offers information and resources for those suffering from pain, their health care providers and policymakers. While it does not provide individualized health care advice, it equips patients and families to ask the right questions and advocate for relief of their pain more effectively. 

“This is a comprehensive, interactive Web site devoted solely to cancer pain management,” said Ogle, a professor of family medicine at MSU and the president of the Michigan Cancer Pain Initiative. “It includes resources for patients and their families and information for policymakers and advocates.” 

The MCPI is an association of health professionals, patient advocates and representatives of clergy, government and higher education, dedicated to addressing the problem of unrelieved pain from cancer.  

Ogle described the undertreatment of pain in the United States as a “health care crisis.” 

“Untreated and undertreated pain can cause profound suffering with effects that go beyond the physical body to reach the psychological, spiritual and social dimensions of people’s lives as well,” she said. “Pain is about more than physical distress. It creates stress and can interfere with sleep, concentration and a person's ability to perform and enjoy everyday tasks. It can even weaken the body's defenses against illness.” 

The Web site provides links to any number of resources, including those dealing with various palliative care options, patients’ rights and complementary and alternative medicine. 

It also provides valuable information for all health care providers, not just doctors and nurses. 

“Treating pain is a team effort,” Ogle said. “That's a message the medical community has taken to heart, improving on the ways in which physicians and nurses, social workers, counselors and spiritual care providers work together to relieve pain and manage other troubling symptoms.” 

The Web site has received funding from the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives. 

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